


I may have helped An Evil Wizard [rewrite]

by Drachma20



Series: Harriet Potter and the Kerfuffle of Hogwarts [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Evil Albus Dumbledore, Evil Ron Weasley, Female Harry Potter, Genius Harry Potter, Morally Grey Harry Potter, Not Beta Read, Slytherin Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2020-07-19 20:00:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 27,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19979674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drachma20/pseuds/Drachma20
Summary: Harriet Potter was perfectly ordinary, thank you very much.That is, she thought so until she was wisked away into a world of magic. Now, sorted into seemingly the most unpopular house in the school and dealing with the danger of things she'd never even heard of, Harriet soon finds there's more to her new life that meets the eye. Pulled into an intrigue, she and her new-found friends must hope to survive the year.





	1. I almost fed my cousin to a snake

"Up! Get up! Now!"

Harriet Potter woke with a start and banged her head on a shelf in the broom cupboard she was sleeping in. Her aunt, Petunia, rapped on the door again.

"Up!" she snapped and stalked off, hideous kitten heels clicking as she went.

Harrie sighed and moved her limbs to roll out of the space and staggered to her feet pulling on her glasses and tying back her hair quickly. She tiptoed past the mantlepiece on which at least twenty pictures of a blond Boy with the complexion of her aunt's favourite handbag were all squished together. Harriet tried not to sigh as she walked into the kitchen.

"Watch the food," her aunt ordered in her shrill and piercing voice, "Don't you dare let anything burn! I want everything perfect on my diddykin's special day."

Harriet nodded. It was her cousin Dudley's birthday. The only ones that hadn't mentioned it one thousand times in the past week were the spiders in her cupboard under the stairs.

Moving the bacon around the pan, she thought about the dream she had had that night. She remembered a flying Motorbike and a stuffed toy dragon. A wolf had appeared as well and someone had been laughing happily. Harriet smiled to herself. It had been a nice dream.

"Why are you smiling like that?" aunt Petunia snapped at her. The woman narrowed her beady eyes suspiciously. "You didn't spit in the food did you?"

"Oh...err, no." Harriet replied quickly, going slightly pale.

Aunt Petunia opened her mouth to say something but was distracted by what looked like two pigs wearing very cheap wigs entering the kitchen. They were unfortunately Harriet's cousin, Dudley, and uncle, Vernon.

Harriet placed the food on the small kitchen table while Dudley counted his huge pile of presents.

"Thirty six?" he asked his parents sounding disgruntled.

Harriet suddenly wished she had spat in the food.

"Darling, you haven't counted Marge's present yet. See, it's under this big one from Mummy and Daddy," Petunia tried to cheer the spoiled brat up.

"Thirty-seven then," Dudley said going red in the face, the normal signal for an upcoming tantrum.

Petunia defused the situation with, "And we'll buy you two more presents while we're out today. How about that? Two more presents!" She gave her son a bright smile.

Dudley screwed up his face in thought. Harriet wondered if he had the brain cells for simple calculation.

"Then," Dudley began, "Then I'll have..."

"Thirty-nine, sweetums." Petunia said in her sweetest voice. Harriet found it sounded very annoying.

"Oh, all right then." Dudley sat down and started to eat his breakfast, satisfied with the result. Vernon chuckled and told him he would be a great businessman one day. Then Dudley began to tear off the brightly coloured paper from his gifts. If only you could gift someone a brain and a socially acceptable personality.

After breakfast, a Dudley-meltdown and a long discussion between his parents, Harriet found herself squished in the back of Vernon's hideous car between Dudley and his friend Pierce. She had successfully blocked out her surroundings and was busy picturing ways to escape the family at the Zoo for some alone time.

She was only there because no one could take her for the day. The Dursleys usually pushed her off on someone else for their son's big day. Someone nicer, usually. Someone who didn't watch her like a hawk.

During the trip, Harriet soon realised this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought. All those years of spying on the neighbours meant Petunia could keep an eye on her without an issue. It still unnerved Harriet, who hated attention.

The reptile house was a welcome change of the situation. The snakes unnerved Petunia so much she excused herself from the group and went to wait outside. Dudley was already waddling from snake to snake, ogling them through the glass and rapping on it sharply trying to get them to move. Harriet felt a stab of sympathy for the Boa Constrictor that looked as if it was done with everything. She knew the feeling all too well. As soon as Dudley, Pierce and Vernon had moved on, she approached the glass quietly.

"Sorry about him," she offered an apology, "He has no idea what it's like to be stared at day after day, with people pressing their ugly faces against the glass."

The snake raised its head looking surprised.

"You can understand me?" Harriet gasped, eyes going wide. The snake nodded, looking as freaked out as she felt.

"So..." Harriet began, feeling like she should initiate conversation, "Where are you from?" The snake jabbed its head in the direction of the sign on the wall next to where it was being kept.

"Brazil, huh?" Harriet smiled, "Was it nice there?"

The snake jabbed its head in the same direction.

"Bred in captivity..." Harriet read. She could relate to the snake even more now. "I see," she said turning back to the snake, "I never knew my parents either."

The snake cocked its head sympathetically.

"Guys get over here!" Dudley yelled running over and shoving Harriet to the ground, "You won't believe what the snake is doing!" He shoved his fat face against the glass.

A second later, there was no more glass. Dudley fell forward with a shriek. Harriet couldn't help it and laughed. The snake slithered out of the terrarium, paused and turned to her.

"Thanksss amiga," it hissed, sounding grateful. Then it proceeded to slither on out of the reptile house, snapping playfully at people's heels on the way out. Harriet silently wished it all the luck it could have.

Dudley made to get out of the terrarium, only to find out that the glass had been replaced. His face when he realised he was trapped was so funny, Harriet couldn't help bursting into laughter again.

After catching sight of Vernon's face, she stopped abruptly.

In the end, Dudley was retrieved from his cage (with no less than the help of eight zoo keepers and a fishing net) and Harriet was locked in her closet for the rest of the week. The memory was worth it.


	2. The house gets attacked by letters

By the time Harriet was let out of her closet and deemed 'safe enough' to walk around the house without being watched like a hawk, the summer holidays had already started. 

Dudley, of course, had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches. Mrs. Figg usually took care of Harriet when the Dursleys were away.

Harriet spent as much time out of the house as she could, getting up extremely early to do her chores and hoping to be able to avoid the Dursleys for a couple of hours. She also spent a lot of time up trees. Dudley and his goons of idiocy had taken to their favourite game again. Harriet hunting. As a result, Harriet could climb practically any tree in the neighborhood. 

She couldn't wait for the holidays to be over. Not because she didn't like free time, but rather because secondary school was starting after summer and it would be the first time she wasn't in the same class as Dudley. She wouldn't even be in the same school! This meant she could finally make some friends and get the grades she knew she could!

Harriet had always held back with her school work. If she had been better than Dudley, she had gotten lots of trouble.

Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harriet, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Something Dudley seemingly found endlessly funny.

"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harriet grinning. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"

"No, thanks," said Harriet dryly. "The poor toilet's never had anything as ugly as your head down it. Poor thing might throw up!" Then she slipped away before Dudley could figure out what she had said.

Harriet didn't mind going to Stonewall. The uniform was far nicer than that of Smeltings. Harriet had thought she was going to bust a lung holding back laughter on the evening where Dudley paraded around the living room wearing it.

One morning changed everything.

They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat. 

"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper. 

"Make Harriet get it," Dudley complained.

"Get the mail, Harriet." Uncle Vernon grumbled.

Harriet rolled her eyes and made her way to the doormat. Three things lay on it: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and a letter... for Harriet! 

She didn't know what to think. She was certain that it was a mistake but somehow, she couldn't help but think it really was for her. It had her cupboard written on it!

She handed Vernon the bills and the postcard and sat down with the letter, which was almost immediately snatched away from her by Dudley. 

"Dad, Harriet's got a letter!" he yelled.

" Give it back. That's mine!" She snapped, making a grab for it. Vernon got there first.

"Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge. 

"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped. Petunia hurried over and looked at the piece of, what appeared to be, parchment.  
For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise. 

"Cupboard..."Vernon gasped,"Go to your Cupboard, Harriet! Dudley, go to your room!"

" But - " both Harriet and Dudley attempted to protest. 

" NOW! " Vernon bellowed. That did the trick. Both pre teens raced out of the room to safety. Once inside her closet Harriet slumped to the ground sighing. 

The next day 4 letters arrived. Aunt Petunia shredded them in the blender. Then Harriet was moved to Dudleys second bedroom as an apparent precaution.  
The day after that 12 letters were burnt in the fireplace and the day after that 23 of those letters were torn apart by Vernon, personally. On Sunday, Uncle Vernon was in a very good mood. He even hummed to himself as he read the paper!

" Lovely day, Sunday. No post." He said. "And wonderful weather too!"  
He picked up a digestive and made to take a bite.  
Something shot past his face knocking the biscuit from his hand.

It had come from the fireplace. The Dursleys stared at it in shock. It was one of those letters.  
"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Harriet in amazement. 

The fireplace started to rumble and the living room started to shake. Dust started coming off of the ceiling. The Dursleys backed away from the fireplace looking terrified.  
The fireplace exploded! Letter after letter shot into the room.

"Out! OUT!" Vernon bellowed louder than any drill sergent.

He seized Harriet by the collar and threw her into the hall. When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut.

"Pack your bags!"He ordered,"We're going away. Far away. Where they can't find us."

" Dad's gone mad, hasn't he? " Dudley asked clutching onto his mother.

Five minutes later, they all piled into the car. Uncle Vernon stomped down on the gas pedal and drove down the lane way faster than legally allowed. Only after putting a considerable distance between them and the house did he slow down.  
Raindrops started hitting the window as they drove on in silence.

Their first stop was outside a run down shop. Vernon barked at them to stay in the car and went inside. He returned with a longish package which he dumped in the trunk. 

The next stop was at a hotel. As it turned out they were to receive 107 of the peculiar letters via the front desk. Uncle Vernon checked them out immediately and drove away from the hotel as quickly as possible.

A few hours later, with much begging he would never admit to, Vernon had found a new accommodation for them. A hut somewhere near the coast.  
Afer a short boat ride during which Dudley lost his breakfast, they arrived. It was dark and dusty.  
Petunia complained about it looking like a haunted house and being too dusty. Harriet quite liked it. It seemed like the kind of place that held secrets.

Petunia and Vernon took the bedroom upstairs, Dudley got the old couch and Harriet got the floor. The Dursleys fell asleep first. Harriet however stayed awake. The sound of the storm outside was calming and she couldn't miss the start of her birthday. Drawing herself a cake in the dusty floor, she watched as Dudleys digital watch turned to 00:00:00.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Harriet, happy birthday to you." She whisper-sang. It was impossible to be heard over Dudleys snoring anyway.  
"Make a wish Harriet," she whispered to herself before smiling sadly. Closing her eyes for a second she thought of what she would wish for. Opening them, she took a deep breath and blew out the dust candles on the dust cake.

Then, Harriet laid down and closed her eyes.

BOOM! 

The entire shack shook. Everyone started awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got my writing flow back. I lost it somewhere in the old version of the series.
> 
> XOXO Drachma


	3. The Giant in the room

"Where's the canon?" Dudley asked stupidly.

CRASH!

The door to the bedroom was kicked open. Vernon skidded into the room holding a rifle.

'So that was in that package. ' Harriet thought, crawling behind the sofa. Perhaps she could make an escape when no one was looking her way.

"Who's there? I warn you, I'm armed." Vernon shouted.

There was a pause. Then...  
SMASH!   
The door was off it's hinges. A giant of a man was standing in the doorway his face almost completely hidden by a shaggy mane of hair and a wild tangled beard. You could only just make out his eyes.

He squeezed his way into the hut , paused for a Moment to take in the Scene before him , then said ,"Sorry 'bout that."

Then he lifted the door back onto it's hinges as if it was the easiest thing in the world. The stranger offered an apologetic smile and strode over to the dusty pink Sofa. Harriet Held her breath. Was he a friend or a foe. He looked scary but didn't give off an agressive vibe. He sat down causing Dudley to squeak and run to hide behind his mother who was cowering behind uncle Vernon.

Harriet supressed a sneeze. She must have made some noise though, because the Giant turned around an spotted her. She gave him a small smile. 

"Hello Harriet, last time I saw you, you were only a baby. You look a lot like your dad but you've got your mother's eyes." He said grinning. 

Vernon made a funny rasping noise.

"I demand that you leave at once sir,you are breaking and entering ." He said.

"Shut up, Dursley, you great prune. "Said the giant. He reached over the back of the sofa,jerked the gun out of Vernon's hands , bent it into a knot and tossed it into the corner of the room.

"Who are you? " Harriet asked curiously. Something told her that the giant was a safe person.

" Reubeus Hagrid, keeper of keys at Hogwarts. You'll know all about Hogwarts obviously." The giant stated matter of factly.

"Sorry, but I don't." Harriet said apologetically, starting to fidget. Was it bad that she didn't know what this 'Hogwarts' was.

"What? Did you never wonder where your parents learnt it all?" Hagrid looked at her with wide eyes.

"All what?" Harriet asked confused.

"ALL WHAT? NOW WAIT A SECOND! DURSLEY. DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THIS GIRL-THIS GIRL! DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING? " Hagrid leapt to his feet and rounded on Uncle Vernon.

"I know some things like maths and science. " Harriet said quietly feeling slightly offended but also not wanting to be rude.

Hagrid waved it off. "I meant about our world. My world. Your world. Your parents world. "

"What world?" Harriet was seriously confused now. Had her parents been in a cult or something?

"DURSLEY!"

Uncle Vernon muttered something along the lines of 'mimblewimble'. Hagrid stared at Harriet.

"You really don't know?" Hagrid looked horified.

"Sorry?"Harriet tried.

"Well then I guess I have to explain Things." Hagrid sighed and sat down again to begin.

Vernon found his voice.

"Stop there sir. I forbid you to tell her anything. "

A braver man would have cowered under the look Hagrid gave Vernon.

"You've kept it from her all these years. Someone has to tell her." Hagrid declared.

"Kept what from me?" Harriet asked.

"I forbid you to tell her. " Vernon bellowed.

"Harriet, you're a witch." Hagrid told her.

" That's not very nice." Harriet replied before she could bite her tongue. 

"No I mean you have magic." Hagrid elaborated.

"What?" Harriet asked dumbly.

"Yes. As I recon it's about time you read your letter." Hagrid said handing her a parchment envelope. 

Harriet took the letter and opened it it. She read it. She reread it. She read it again.

Questions exploded in her head. She didn't know what to ask first. Hagrid pulled an owl from inside his overcoat and sent it off with a note in its beak. Harriet wondered how long the poor thing had been in there.

"So," she began timidly, "I have a place at a School for magic?"

"She's not going. " Vernon stated firmly.

"I'd like to see a great Muggle like you try to stop her." Hagrid retorted.

"We swore we would put a stop to that. We swore we would stamp that rubbish out of her. Witch, indeed," Petunia huffed.

"So she's not going! " Vernon snapped.

"If she wants to go she will go and a Muggle like you can't stop her." Hagrid fixed a glare on him.

"I AM NOT PAYING SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HER MAGIC TRICKS!"

Vernons rage exploded. Hagrid leapt to his feet. Harriet made a move towards the door. Dudley attempted to jump ito his mothers arms.

"NEVER- INSULT- ALBUS - DUMBLEDORE -IN - FRONT OF ME!" Hagrid roared.

He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley. There was a flash of violet and a squeal and the next second Dudley had a pigs tail. Harriet couldn't help it. She dissolved into a fit of laughter.

Vernon pulled Petunia and Dudley into another room immediately. They probably wouldn't show up for a while.

"Best Birthday yet!" she whispered to herself. Then she turned back to the giant. "That was amzing!" she said, "How did you do that?"

"Magic!" grinned the giant. Then, seriously, he said, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention that at Hogwarts. I'm technically not allowed to do magic."

"I wont! I promise!" Harriet replied earnestly.

"Oh! Before I forget!" Hagrid exclaimed and pulled a squished box out of one of his coat pockets, "Happy Birthday, Harriet! Might have sat on it on my way here but I think it'll still be edible."

Harriet carefully untied the Ribbon on the box and lifted the lid. Inside was a squished chocolate cake with "Happy Birthday Harriet!" written on it in green icing.

Harriet felt a lump rise in her throat. She had gotten a birthday cake and a present. Sure, the cake was the present but still, it was more than she had ever dared hope for. She placed the box on the coffe table, hugged Hagrid as tightly as she could and mumbled a thank you, blinking back tears of happiness.

"You're welcome." Hagrid said patting her on the back, "'s not everyday you turn eleven."

Harriet sat down on the Sofa next to the giant.

"Can I ask about my parents?" she asked, "The Dursleys never talk about them."

"Figured you'd ask that," Hagrid said, "Go on then, ask away."


	4. Truth be told, no one knows what happened.

"Ask away," Hagrid said.

"What were my parents like?" Harriet asked excitedly, a grin spreading across her face. She was going to find out who her family really was!

"Well," Hagrid said, "Your father was one of the most troublesome students Hogwarts ever had. Mischief was seemingly part of his morning routine. Your mother on the other hand was one of the brightest. Could cast almost every spell, she could. She was almost the opposite of your father. Quiet and well behaved in class."

"You said almost the opposite," Harriet remarked. "What did they have in common?"

Hagrid smiled.

"They were the kindest and most loyal friends you could have wished for. That and they didn't let anyone mess with them." He shrugged. "In the end that was probably what got them killed."

"How did they die?" Harriet couldn't help asking. She didn't know if she wanted to know but she felt like she needed to.

"No one's entirely sure what happened, you see," Hagrid scratched his head, "Most believe it was a dark wizard who went as bad as you can go."

"Who?" Harriet enquired.

"You-know-who," Hagrid replied quietly as if someone was suddenly eavesdropping.

"Obviously I don't!" Harriet wrinkled her nose at the dissatisfactory answer.

"No one speaks his name," Hagrid whispered, "most people still live in fear that he'll return."

"What does that have to do with speaking his name?" Harriet was confused. "And where would he return from? Prison? Death? What's the story here?"

Hagrid sighed and began talking. "Years ago, your parents were part of a resistance against the dark forces. Your father was a top auror and your mother was the leader of one of the main forces helping muggle-borns like her escape them. You-know-who most likely killed them both and tried to kill you -"

"He tried to kill me!" Harriet was shocked and mildly offended. Who would kill a one year old baby? And what had she ever done to the guy?

"Yeah," Hagrid said grimly, "He tried to kill you an he couldn't."

"That doesn't explain why or the dissapearing act," Harriet remarked dryly. Hagrid obviously had a knack for leaving out information.

"When he cast the killing curse, it backfired on him," Hagrid finally - _finally_ \- told her. "Some say he died, others say he's still out there biding his time until he can make his return."

Harriet mulled things over. She had never heard the real story behind her mum and dad's death. She had considered a lot of options, just not this one.

"You still haven't told me the name." Harriet looked at Hagrid questioningly. He was shifting uncomfortably. All this because of a name?

"Okay," Hagrid gave in, "His name was V- V-"

"Would you rather write it down?" Harriet asked him. Mabye he had difficulty pronouncing it.

Hagrid shook his head. "Can't spell it," he said. Then after a deep, calming breath,"Alright - Voldemort."

"Voldemort?" Harriet was sure she'd misheard. The name sounded ridiculous.

"Yes, and don't make me say it again." Hagrid shook himself. "You best get some rest now," he told her, ending the conversation, "Lots to do tomorrow."

Harriet nodded. "Okay, goodnight."

She got up and curled up in a corner to go to sleep. Only then did she realise how heavy her eyelids were. Even after all the mildly shocking news she had just recieved, she fell asleep in minutes. Shortly after Hagrid's snores began to fill the hut.

Harriet's dreams drifted back to a place of happiness, with flying motorbikes, a wolf and laughter.


	5. Hop in witch, we're going shopping!

Harriet woke up early and streched. Sleeping in a corner had not been a good idea. She kept her eyes closed for a moment, savouring the dream she had had.

She was disturbed by an incessant rapping noise. Annoyed, Harriet opened her eyes. An owl was tapping at the window. She got up to let it in. It swooped over to Hagrid and dropped a newspaper on his face. Then it proceeded to attack his coat. Grumbling, he got up and gave it 5 bronze coins. Then he turned to Harriet.

"Morning!" he said brightly.

"Good morning!" Harriet grinned. She was leaving the Dursleys!

"Well," Hagrid said, "Best be off then. Lot's to buy and do!"

"Yeah!" Harriet cheered before realizing a tiny problem. "Erm, quick question. How am I supposed to pay for all of it. I mean Vernon won't so... how?" she asked.

"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"

"Petunia said they never took their money to a proper bank." Harriet said. It had been one of her aunts favourite arguments to emphasize what kind of nutjobs she thought Harriets parents had been. Well, her father had gotten the worst of it. It was obvious petunia had despised him.

"First stop for us is Gringotts, wizard's bank. Your parents would never have left their money in a muggle bank. To insecure." Hagrid told her, checking his pocket watch, "Grab yer cake. We'll have to eat on the way. We're late as it is."

A few hours later, after a tedious train ride and the stickiest chocolate cake for breakfast, they arrived in London. Harriet had practically memorized the equipment list.

"So, Where do we buy all this?" Harriet asked, wondering what kind of a store sold crushed beetles, powdered unicon horn and basilisk skin. It wasn't like you could get it at ASDA, could you?

"Don't worry. I know where to go," Hagrid told her, reassuringly.

A few minutes later they walked into a pub called the leaky cauldron. It was a grubby looking place with a dusty and very alchoholic smell. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid because they smiled and waved at him.

The barman reached for a glass saying ,"the usual Hagrid? "

"Can't Tom, I'm here on Hogwarts business. Harriet needs to get her things." Hagrid said clapping her on the shoulder causing her knees to buckle.

The barman, Tom glanced at her. He did a double take.

"Bless my soul. It's Harriet Potter!" he whispered, rushing around the bar and shaking her hand enthusiastically, "Welcome back ms. Potter! Welcome back!" he said.

Everyone sprang to life, rushing to greet her. A witch named Doris Crockford kept coming back for more handshakes. Harriet was complletely overwhelmed and responded as politely as she could. There was too much attention on her. It was like she was famous!

She also met one of her future teachers (Professor Quirrel if she remembered correctly ). Nervous guy, stuttered a lot, somehow he seemed suspicious. He kept adjusting his turban too. Not that there was anythging wrong with that, it just irritated her.

Hagrid ushered them out the back door into a small backyard surrounded by walls. Hagrid walked to the one at the end. He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. 

The brick he had touched quivered. In the middle, a small hole appeared. It grew wider and wider 

A second later, they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid. It led onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight. 

"Welcome," said Hagrid, smiling at Harriet's awestruck face, "to Diagon Alley. "

The place was full of witches and wizards. Some in pointy hats, some in jeans and T-shirts and some in long flowing robes decorated with elaborate beadwork and probably worth more than Harriet's life.

There were elaborate and slightly over-decorated buildings on either side of the street, some reaching for the sky while others were two stories high at most. Flowers grew on the balconies and the stone creature decorations climbed along the rooftops. It was beautiful in it's own chaotic and magical way.

"Come on then!"Hagrid said brightly placing a hand on her shoulder and steering her through the crowd, "Let's get your money and go shopping."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Feelings? Constructive critisizm?


	6. Goblins and new faces.

Hagrid led Harriet to a tall white building at the end of a street. 

Standing beside its large bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was something Harriet had never seen. It looked like a-  
  
"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid to her quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. 

The goblin was rather short. He had a swarthy, clever face and, Harriet noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. It seemed polite so Harriet awkwardly bowed back leaving the goblin with a very confused yet pleased expression on its face. 

They came to a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:  
  
 _Enter, stranger, but take heed_  
Of what awaits the sin of greed,  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay most dearly in their turn.   
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there.   
  
"Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid when Harriet looked at him questioningly.   
  
A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors. Harriet awkwardly bowed back again.

Harriet and Hagrid then stepped into a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales and examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter, Harriet bowing to the goblins and recieving polite bows in return. She was doing the right thing then.

They arrived at the counter at the end. Harriet bowed to the goblin behind it. Suprise evident on his face, the goblin inclined its head in return.

Hagrid cleared his throat. The goblin gave him a nasty look.

"Ms. Harriet Potter wishes to enter her vault."Hagrid told him

"Oh,"the goblin said,"Does Ms. Potter have her key." Harriet looked at Hagrid. A key? She was supposed to have a key? 

"One second. I've got it here somewhere." Hagrid started rumaging around in his endless pockets, dumping their contents on the counter in the progress. The goblin turned up his nose at the dog buiscuits and doormice.

"So..." Harriet said to the goblin, "Can I ask your name?" Aunt Petunia had told her to always ask for someones name before you talked to them. It was polite and if things didn't go the way you wanted them to, you knew who to sue.

"My name is Griphook, Ms. Potter," the goblin replied, "A pleasure to make your aquaintance."

Harriet smiled. He seemed nice. "Likewise," she said, obviously suprising the goblin again.

She opened her mouth to ask about the poem on the silver doors, but Hagrid found the key before she could.

"Aha! here we go.'" He said handing Griphook the key,"Oh, and there is something else." He handed over a letter.,"Its about the you know what in vault you know which one."

"Very well. Follow me." the goblin said and led them through a set of doors to a cart. They climbed in. Hagrid having some difficulty with it.

The cart shot down the track doing twists and turns like a roller coaster. Harriet held onto her glasses with one hand and onto the seat with the other. She was having a lot of fun despite the fact that she felt as if she was going to be thrown out of her seat.

One minute later, they stopped at a vault. Griphook unlocked it and motioned for her to go in. It was hers then. She stepped in carefully and stared. The walls were covered in shelves practially overflowing with silver and gold. There were mountains of coins on the floor. Harriet scooped a lot of silvery and gold coins into a pouch Hagrid had given her earlier. She also took a few bronze just in case and payed close attention to the explanation of wizarding currency that Hagrid was giving her. Then they climbed back in the cart.

A few minutes later they stopped at vault 317. Harriet got excited. This was the vault that Hagrid and the goblin had been so secretive about.

There had to be something really extraordinary in this vault. Griphook stepped forward.

"Stand back. " He ordered, "If anyone but a goblin tries to open this door the will be sucked through the door and trapped inside."

"How often do you check? " Harriet asked, curiously.

"Oh, once every 10 years. " The goblin grinned.

The goblin pressed his hand against the door. Harriet faintly heard locks clicking open and bolts moving. Then the door swung open. Hagrid stepped in and grabbed the only thing in the room. A grubby looking package of the floor. 

Harriet was ,needless to say, disappointed. She had been expecting something spectacular not a paper package that looked like it had been flushed down the toilet, twice.

Once they were outside Hagrid left for a pick-me-up at the leaky cauldron after sending Harriet to get her Robes at a shop called Madam Malkins. The cart ride had left him feeling less then exemplatory. She entered the shop feeling very nervous.

Madam Malkin was a squat witch who was dressed all in purple.

"Hogwarts too dear? We have the lot here- a Young man being fitted just now, in fact." She said practically pulling Harriet into the shop with a bright smile.

In the back of the shop a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool whilst another witch pinned up his Long black Robes. 

Madam Malkin stood Harriet on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over her head and began to pin it to the right length.

" Hello, Hogwarts too? " the boy asked.

" Yes." Harriet said.

"My father is next door buying books and my mother's up the street looking at wands," Said the boy. He had a bored voice making Harriet think he'd been here a while. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll convince my dad to get me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow. "

"Sounds like a plan." Harriet said. She had no idea what the guy was talking about.

" Have you got your own broom? " He asked her.

"No. " Harriet answered.

"Play quidditch at all? " was the next question.

" No, Sorry. " Harriet said. What the hell was quidditch? She made a mental note to look that up later.

" No matter. I do." the boy brushed it off, "Father says that it's a crime if I don't get picked for the team. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No." Harriet answered feeling very embarrassed but hiding it behind a blank face making a new mental note to research everything before she got to Hogwarts.

" Well no one really knows until they get there do they. I know I'll be in slytherin. My whole family was. Imagine being in Hufflepuff. I think I'd leave, don't you?" He said.

Harriet shrugged. What was wrong with Hufflepuff? What was a Hufflepuff?

"I say , look at that man!" Said the boy nodding toward the front window. There was Hagrid waving.

"That's Hagrid, the games keeper at Hogwarts. He's helping me get my stuff. " Harriet said, happy to know something the blond didn't.

"I heard he's sort of savage- lives in a hut in the school grounds. Gets drunk from time to time , tries to do magic and sets his bed on fire." The boy said

Harriet raised her eyebrows shocked.

"He doesn't seem like that at all." she said.

"Okay," the boy said, "I'll trust your judgement. I've never met him so I can't judge him."

Then, confused, he added, "Why is he with you? Where are your parents? "

"They died when I was a baby." Harriet replied sharply.

"I'm sorry. " the boy said, sounding regretful," They were our kind, weren't they?"

"Yes." Harriet said.

"Im not sure they should let the other sort in." he said, "They're not the same. They haven't been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter. Imagine that! "

"I didn't know about Hogwarts until I read the letter, and I was raised by muggles," Harriet said, voice going quieter and sharper.

"Oh." The boy went pale, sensing the danger. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean offence..." he trailed off obviously not sure what to say.

"I think," Harriet said, "That instead of judging others, you should get to know them first and if they are from another world, help them fit in or explain how things work to them."

"Okay," he nodded, "Sorry again."

"Just don't do it again," she said, feeling a bit of pity for the boy. He had probably been raised by someone like Uncle Vernon.

"Can I take my words back?" he asked quietly, "I don't want you to hate me, you seem like a good person."

"Ok." Harriet shrugged.

"So, we're good?" he asked.

Harriet was about to answer when Madam Malkin told her she was done.

"See you at Hogwarts then." The boy said.

"Bye." Harriet said with a smile and walked out of the shop.

After that Hagrid and Harriet went to get the school books. The ones on the list plus a few extra on wizarding culture, Hogwarts and Quidditch. Harriet also bought one full of spells that probably wouldn't be taught but could come in handy (just in case). 

Next on the list was the Apothecary, which was fascinating , to get potions ingredients. 

Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.   
  
"Just yer wand left," he said, "Oh yeah, an' I still haven't got you a birthday present."  
  
Harriet felt herself go red.   
  
"You don't have to-" she immediately began to say.  
  
"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at -an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze," Hagrid said. Harriet stared at him, how could you not like cats? Hagrid paid no attention.

"I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'." Hagrid decided.  
"Anyway," he continued, "Yeh'd best get yer wand. That shop there. I'll catch up later."


	7. Wands and an overexcited tape measure

Harriet made it to a dark blue painted shop with gold lettering displaying the name 'Ollivanders'. It had that particular aura of mystery that made you feel nervous, just standing before it. Like it held all the secrets.

Harriet entered through the door which gave a soft tinkling noise. Inside smelt musky and dusty. It seemed kind of gloomy and the walls were lined with small rectangular boxes, stacked to the ceiling.

"Good afternoon," a soft voice said.

Harriet spun around. An old man with pale eyes emerged from the back of the shop.  
Harriet asumed this was Ollivander. Who else could it be?

"Hello," she said awkwardly.

"Ah yes. Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon, Harriet Potter." Ollivander smiled. It looked a bit eerie, to be honest. His voice only supported the vibe.   
"You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday that she was in here buying her own wand. Ten and a quarter inches, swishy , willow. Good for charms. Your father, however, favored a mahogany wand, eleven inches. Well I say your father favored it. It's really the wand that chooses the wizard. Now let's see. Which is your wand arm." Ollivander spoke, rumaging around in a drawer, barely visible under all the boxes.

Harriet thought about it. She could write with both hands but she had no clue how to define a wand arm.

"I'm ambidexterous," she answered, confused.

"Brilliant," Olivander said, holding up a tape measure"Hold out your arms -that's it."

The tape mesure sprang to life and began mesuring from shoulder to finger, from shoulder to floor and from knees to armpits. Ollivander had started hurrying around the shop at a suprising speed for his obvious age, pulling boxes out here and there.

"Here," he said, offering her a wand. "Try this one."

The tape measure that had been taking the distance between her nostrils fell away.

Harriet took it and looked at him questioningly.

"Well, give it a wave!" Ollivander exclaimed.

Harriet swished down the wand. Nothing happened. She was about to apologise but before she could speak she was handed another wand to try. Then, when that didn't work either, another.

With every failed wand, Ollivanders enthusiasm seemed to grow exponentially. The man seemed to relish in having a tricky customer.

The final wand he handed her felt warm in her hand. Even before she waved a pattern in the air conjuring a dance of silver and gold sparks, she knew this was the one. Ollivander seemed to know aswell.

"Curious. .. very curious. " Ollivander pondered, looking thoughtful.

"Sorry, but what's curious?" Harriet asked. Was something wrong?

Ollivander gave a wry smile.  
"I remember every wand I've ever sold," he said, "And as it happens the phoenix who gave the tail feather for your wand gave another. Just one other. It is curious how this wand chose you when It's brother - it's brother- gave you that scar..."   
He gave Harriet a scrutinising, yet remorseful look.   
"I think we may expect great things from you Ms. Potter. After all. .. You -know -who did great things. Terrible. But great."

'No pressure or anything,' Harriet thought to herself.

Exiting the shop, she was called over to a bench by hagrid who had been feeding pigeons and waiting patiently. Next to him, happily feasting on some hazelnuts, was a beautiful snowy owl with delicate black patterns running through her fur.

"Happy Birthday again, Harriet!" he grinned handing her the cage.

Harriet stammered her thanks, whilst trying to hide tears of gratitude. She carefully placed the owl next to her and hugged the guy. Hagrid patted her back.

On the way back to the train station they spoke of magical creatures. Harriet could not get over the fact that dragons were real. DRAGONS! 

Sure, unicorns were nice too but, dragons! There were dragons!

It was like the best thing ever! NO! It was the best thing ever! Harriet had so many questions. What dragons were there? Did they have a specific habitat? What did they eat?

Hagrid chuckled at her enthusiasm and got to answering the bombardment of questions. 

When they arrived at their destination, Hagrid helped her onto a train that would take her back to Surrey and the Dursley's and gave her a parchment envelope and her train ticket. Harriet smiled and thanked him again.

"Your ticket for Hogwarts," he told her pointing at the envelope, "First September. Kings cross. See Yeh soon. " He grinned, "an' good luck,Harriet!"

"Thank you again!" Harriet smiled. "See you!"

The trin pulled out of the station, Harriet quickly finding a seat. Pulling out one of the books she had purchased earlier she began to read, letting herself be whisked away by facts of the magic world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews are appreciated if anyone wants to comment or leave a kudo. I love knowing if I did a good job or not.
> 
> Thoughts and feelings towards my work may also be expressed so long as it is in a polite manner if they are negative. Reasons should be stated.
> 
> Positivity is always welcome regardless of the grammar or pesky other things.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Drachma XOXO


	8. We're off to go to school...

All things considering, Harriet's last month at the Dursley's was actually quite nice. Dudley was so scared of Harriet that he refused to be in the same room as her. Harriet thought it might have something to do with her absentmindedly twirling her wand and staring in the direction of his tail whilst thinking one time.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't force her to do anything. They simply acted as if she didn't exist giving her plenty of time to catch up on the the facts and figures of the wizarding world. By the time summer ended she was more than well informed. 

Harriet kept to her room with her new owl Hedwig for company. She had named her after the patron saint of orphans. It was lucky that aunt Petunia didn't come into the room to vacuum anymore because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice.

Her many diverse school books were interesting and she memorized about 70%. She loved creatures, the sound of quidditch and found charms particularly interesting. She didn't try any on the basis that she might blow something up. 

Every night before he went to sleep, Harriet ticked off another day on the piece of paper she had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first. She couldn't wait to get away from the lot she was forced to live with although Dudley wasn't so bad when he wasn't bullying her.

On the last day of August she thought she should probably ask her aunt and uncle about getting a lift to King's Cross station the next day. Logically there was no other way to get there. She didn't have normal money. 

Thus, she went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. When she got there Dudley moved closer to his mother. Harriet shot him a smile to show she wasn't there to hurt anyone. He had been a jerk, sure, but that wasn't necessarily a reason to be an awful person to him. He was probably deeply insecure.

"Er - Uncle Vernon?" Harriet spoke, looking at the couch potato of a man.

Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.

"Er -I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to go to Hogwarts," she said clearly.

Uncle Vernon grunted again. Harriet was reminded of a pig.

"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?" she asked raising her eyebrow inquiringly.

Grunt. Harriet supposed that meant yes.

"Thank you."

She was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.

"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"

Harriet said nothing. Where was he going with this?

"Where is this school, anyway?"

"Scotland," said Harriet, remembering what she had read in Hogwarts; A History. She pulled the ticket Hagrid had given her out of her pocket.

"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," she read.

Her aunt and uncle stared.

"Platform what?"

"Nine and three-quarters."

"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."

"It's on my ticket." Harriet said.

"Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."

"Why are you going to London?" Harriet asked, trying to keep things friendly.

"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."

Harriet smiled. Oh yeah, the tail. The thing that had made her summer great again.

She continued upstairs and went to bed.

Harriet woke at five o'clock the next morning, with the sunrise. The pinkish hues stretching across the sky bidding her a good morning.

She was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep so she got up and pulled on her robes, shoving her cloak into her bag. It was supposed to be warm that day and the rain minimal.

Harriet checked her Hogwarts list yet again to make sure she had everything she needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. 

Two hours later, Harriet's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, courtesy of Dudley who seemed to be trying to get on her good side. Aunt Petunia talked Dudley into sitting next to Harriet so she didn't have to, and they had set off. 

Harriet felt bad for aunt Petunia. If this was how she reacted to Harriet being a witch, she must have been terrified of her sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Throwing this out there just because I can't decide: 
> 
> The Weasleys showing Harriet the way onto the platform or the Malfoys?
> 
> Comment below and let me know.
> 
> Thanks, 
> 
> Drachma XOXO 


	9. ... the most groovy wizarding school.

They reached King's Cross at half past ten, Uncle Vernon's tires screeching to a halt.

The Dursleys practically tossed Harriet out of the car with her trunk and owl and drove off. Harriet grabbed a nearby cart and heaved her trunk on, pushing it into the large thrall of people in the building. She walked onto the platform nine, adjoined to ten.

Where was platform nine and three quarters? She looked around. Nothing indicating anything magical or hidden passageways.

She remembered the entrance to Diagon Ally. Hagrid had tapped a brick to get in. Mabye it was the same sort of concept here? He had forgotten to mention anything.

Harriet looked around again. Was there anyone wierd looking or wearing robes, heading in a certain direction?

According to the large clock over the arrivals board, she had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and she had no idea how to do it; she was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk she could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large snowy owl.

Just when she was about to give up, a group of people passed just behind her and she caught a few words of what they were saying.

"-packed with Muggles, of course-"

Muggles? Wasn't that what Hagrid had called Uncle Vernon? 

As discreetly as she could, she followed them. They stopped in front of the ticket barrier between platform 9 and 10. One by one, they ran towards it and dissapeared into it!

Harriet stared. How? How was this possible? 

She pushed her things towards the barrier. It looked very solid. She swallowed nervously. Was she really supposed to go through it?

Only one way to find out!

What was there to lose? She ran forward, bracing berself for impact.

It never came.

Harriet opened one eye and then the other, both widening in amazement.

A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven O'clock. Harriet looked behind her and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. 

She breathed a quick sigh of relief before another problem occured to her. She needed to get her things on the train and quickly. Harriet found a door and placed her owl near the opposite one. That was easy. Her trunk, not so much.

According to physics, she should be able to push her trunk up the steps into the train carriage rather than lift it. She also vaguely remembered her P.E. teacher saying something along the lines of 'keep your back straight and lift with your legs'.

She was completely out of breath and halfway there when two saviors in the form of red headed twins arrived.

"I say, Georgie," one said, "it looks like an ickle firstie needs help with their heavy trunk!"

"I think so too, Freddie," the other one grinned, "And, kind third years that we now are, I do believe we should graciously lend a hand!"

Before Harriet could say anything, the trunk was pulled into the train and she had stumbled after it. 

"Thank you..." Harriet trailed off realising she didn't know who to thank. 

"Fred." the twin with slightly more freckles grinned.

"And George."the other one with a small scar on his hand and a slightly less evil grin added.

"Weasleys at your service!" They chorused brightly, giving an over exaggerated bow.

"I'm Harriet," she introduced herself, shaking their hands, "Harriet Potter."

The twins grins faltered for a second before they grabbed her things and ushered her into a compartment before storing her things next to what looked like theirs. They all sat down, Fred by the window opposite Harriet.

"So," Fred began.

"Harriet," George continued.

"You must be so excited for your first year!" Fred said.

"Or nervous. You look terrified!" George raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe we can help." Fred suggested.

"Of course we can, Fred. We'll answer any questions the newbie has." George grinned.

"So ask away!" They told her.

"Thanks," Harriet said, "but I think I need to know where the bathroom on this train is first."

"No problem," George said. "Just beside the doors."

"You might want to change into your uniform as well," Fred suggested. "You don't want to do it last minute. Friend of ours nearly went back to London last year because he went 5 minutes before arrival and was taking too long."

Harriet nodded. Grabbing the bag that held her uniform, she scurried in the direction of the lavatory. 

When she came back she felt something was different. She studied the twins, who were looking entirely too innocent, for a moment before realizing that the one by the window had a small scar on his hand. The twins had switched places. Harriet resisted the urge to call them out on one of the oldest tricks in the book and sat down.

"So..." she said awkwardly, "What's it really like at hogwarts?"

"Pretty good." George said, "Theres a lot to do outside of classes."

"We hear there's a lot to do in them aswell," Fred said.

"Provided you pay attention," George shrugged.

"We usually have better things to do," Fred explained. 

"But you should pay attention." George told her.

"And how's the window seat George?" Harriet couldn't help it any longer. She wanted to see their reactions.

The twins jaws dropped. Identical looks of amazement crossed their faces.

"How could you tell?" George asked eventually. 

"Not even our mother can do that!" Fred stated.

"Yeah the only other person we know that can do that is our brother Charlie." George said.

"But he can tell a lot of identical things apart so we're not sure that counts." Fred said.

"So?" They looked at her expectantly. 

Harriet shrugged and explained, "George has a scar on his hand near his knuckles and Fred has slightly more freckles around his nose. It's not that obvious but I notice details pretty easily." She started to fidget nervously while she spoke.

"Wicked!" The twins grinned.

They turned to each other for a moment and seemed to have some sort of telepathic conversation before they turned back to her.

"We're adopting you." Fred stated.

"Yes," George agreed, "You are now one of our younger siblings, regardless of your future house."

"Just tell us if you're in trouble and we'll help." Fred's grin came back onto his face.

"And if anyone bothers you, we'll take care of them." George grinned aswell.

"Where's the catch?" Harriet asked. Good things were never free.

"There is no catch." The twins said simultaneously, "Just don't turn out to be a horrible person."

"I think I can manage that." Harriet said, although she still didn't quite believe them. She had known them for half an hour at most. You couldn't judge a person in such a short time. The twins seemed to like her however, because they continued to tell her all about Hogwarts, the teachers and the school grounds. She had to watch her back around a certain Snape, not get on a McGonnagals bad side and keep away from Filch.

All in all, it sounded like fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts are always appreciated. Feel free to leave a comment or something. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone reading this. 
> 
> Drachma XOXO


	10. Standing in front of the future

The train slowed down and stopped. Harriet grabbed her cloak and threw it on before she got off, leaving her bags on the train like instructed by the announcement made by the conductor.   
People pushed their way toward the door and out onto a dark platform. Harriet shivered in the cold night air and pulled her cloak tighter around her.

A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and she heard a familiar voice.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" It was Hagrid. "All right there, Harriet?"

He was beaming. Harriet smiled at him.

"C'mon, follow me!" he called to the group of 11 year olds that had gathered in front of him. "Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harriet thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much.

After a minute or so of walking, the pale boy from the robe shop appeared next to her.

"Hello," he said, "I never got your name when I met you in Diagon Ally. Sorry I forgot to ask. I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Harriet Potter," she replied, "I forgot to ask your name aswell so we're good."

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, from up ahead. "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!" followed by various other exclamations of excitement.

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. Harriet and Draco exchanged excited looks. It looked so cool.

"This is our school?" Harriet gasped.

"Yeah!" Draco grinned.

"Groovy!" A guy behind them commented. There were many murmurs and nods of agreement.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

Harriet and Draco were followed into their boat by a girl called Pansy, Draco's childhood friend, and a boy who introduced himself as Blaizse Zabini.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"

The little fleet of boats began to glide across the water of the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Even at night you could see your reflection in the water.

No one payed attention to it.

Everyone was staring up at the grand and brilliantly lit castle overhead, watching it with wide eyes. It towered over them majestically as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. The moon cast it in a light, that almost made it seem like an illusion.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff. They all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face.

They were floated along a dark tunnel. Draco supposed they were right under the castle. Harriet immediately thought of a siege and escape strategy. She couldn't help it.

A couple minutes later, the boats reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. Harriet managing to fall flat on her face in an ungraceful heap. She had never been the most elegant. Pansy helped her up and brushed her off, Harriet muttering her thanks. Why was she like this?

After that, they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out onto damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. It towered over them even more now. Everyone exchanged nervous glances. Standing there, in front of their future made Harriet feel awfully insignificant and inspired at the same time. In that moment, she decided she would become one of the most brilliant witches this place had ever seen so she wouldn't feel as insignificant again.

The group followed Hagrid up a short flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, Oak front door. He raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times. Everyone waited holding their breath in anticipation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's your Hogwarts house?  
> I am a Hufflepuff and proud of it!  
> XOXO Drachma


	11. Sorting shuffle

The door swung open. A tall witch in emerald green robes and a matching hat stood there. She looked strict. Harriet made a mental note not to get onto her bad side no matter what she taught. She had an air of 'don't mess with me'.

"The Firs' Years Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you Hagrid. I shall take it from here." She said giving a curt nod. Her Scottish accent emphasized the power she obviously held. Nerves started to sneak up on Harriet.

The lady waved her hand and the door opened. The entrance hall was huge. Harriet guessed about 14m high. The stone walls were lit by many torches and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. Harriet remembered reading something about trick stairs in Hogwarts; a History. She stared at the stairs trying to figure out which ones they were.

The group followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor, Harriet lagging behind a bit. They could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. The rest of the school was obviously there. Harriet's nerves were getting worse. What if no one liked her?

"Welcome to Hogwarts." said Professor McGonagall, curtly. "The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be your family."

She looked at them all pointedly. "You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in the house dormitory and spend free time in the house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has it's own noble history. I hope each one of you will be a credit to whichever house you're sorted into. While you are here your triumphs will bring you points, while any rule breaking will result in a loss of points. At the end of the year the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup."

The professor paused for a second, scanning them all.

"The ceremony will begin in a few moments. Please wait here." She swept back into the hall.

Harriet scanned all the books she had memorized during the summer in her mind hoping she coud find out how they were going to sort them. She remembered something about a hat and the founders. She also remembered something about wrestling a troll, but that was unlikely.

Wasn't it?

A few minutes later Professor McGonagall returned and led them into the great hall.

It looked beautiful and majestic. The cieling looked like the night sky outside, candles floated above the tables and there were huge stained glass windows of which the glass they were made of shone and sparkeled. At the end a four legged stool stood with a hat perched on top of it. A very old and shabby hat. The rip at the brim opened and the hat began to sing.

After the hat had finished singing, Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name,you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." she said, "Abbot, Hannah."

A girl with blonde pigtails stepped forward and was sorted into Hufflepuff.

Bones,Susan also went to Hufflepuff. She had looked very pale stepping towards the stool.

Boot,Terry became a Ravenclaw along with Brocklehurst,Mandy.

Brown,Lavender became the first Gryffindor and was greeted with thunderous cheering

Bulstrode,Millicent was welcomed into Slytherin.

Flinch-Fletchley,Justin became another Hufflepuff.

Granger,Hermione went to Gryffindor along with Weasley,Ronald (the younger brother of the twins).

Longbottom,Neville also became a Gryffindor despite having the likeness of a ghost and shivering like an Arctic explorer without a coat.

Draco didn't even sit down before the hat yelled "Slytherin!"

Crabbe, Vincent and Goyle, Gregory became Slytherin aswell. Soon followed by Pansy and Zabini, Blaise.

Nott, Theodore became a Ravenclaw. He didn't look to excited as he walked to the table and sent a longing glance towards the Slytherins. Mabye he had a relative there?

Funally it was Harriets turn. The nerves hit her over the head with a baseball bat.

She froze.

Forcing one foot in front of the other she dragged herself forward to the stool. She kept her eyes firmly on the ground as she sat down.

The hats brim slipped over her eyes.

"Mmmm," said a voice. Harriet almost jumped out of her skin.

" Your smart for sure....Ambitious and loyal too.....brave aswell.....where to put you..." It continued, apparently unconcerned.

"Put me in the house that will benefit me the most!" Harriet thought. If she was going to learn magic she was damn well going to make sure she did it right. She was also terrified of making the wrong decisions, something she had picked up around the Dursleys.

"Very ambitious....and smart....very well then....SLYTHERIN!"

The last word was bellowed by the hat.

Harriet felt the hat being taken off to find that the hall had been shocked into scilence.

Draco started clapping along with his friends. The Slytherin table exploded with cheering and clapping whilst still keepin it's slytherin composure.

The prefects got up to shake Hartiets hand as did a few of the other students. Once she sat down she glanced at the high table and realized that the headmaster (professor Dumbeldore if she remembered correctly) looked rather angry. She hoped it wasn't at her. Mabye he was just hungry.

It became quiet once more and the sorting continued.

Once it was over, Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement.

" Welcome," He said," Welcome to another year at hogwarts. Before we begin our delicous feast I would like to say a few words. Nitwit, Blubber, odment, tweak. Thank you."

The whole hall clapped. Harriet turned to the prefect that was nearest to her in confusion.

" Is he... a little crazy?" She asked, carefully in hopes she wasn't overstepping.

"Yes." The prefect replied simply, "Potatoes?"

"Yes please. So who are all the teachers?" Harriet asked. _'And who do I need to avoid?'_ she added on mentally.

"From right to left," he began, "Hagrid : games keeper, has a strange obsession with dangerous magical creatures. Flitwick: teaches charms, head of Ravenclaw, generally trusting and nice to everyone. Sprout: herbology, head of Hufflepuff, occasionally gives out cookies as well as points." He shrugged and continued on.   
"Then there's Kettleburn, who teaches care of magical creatures and Trilewany who you won't need to know about until your third year and has a habit of predicting death and decay wherever she goes." The prefect rolled his eyes. Shook his head and continued down the line.  
"Then , McGonagall: Transfiguration, also head of the Gryffindor house, strict as can be, overall worthy of anyones respect. Quirrel: teaches defence against the dark arts and is also really jumpy, 'specially around creatures. Snape: potions, head of our house, also strict with a slight sadistic streak, loves taking points and knowing what's going on. Binns: History of Magic, a ghost, completely boring and never stops talking about the goblin wars. Hooch, flying lessons and Quidditch referee. She's cool. Just don't get on her bad side."

"OK." Harriet nodded, processing the information, "Thanks."

"Anytime. Your house is your family and you're one of us now." He frowned a bit, "I hope that wasn't too much to process."

"No," Harriet told him, "It was nice and short."

The prefect smiled at her and pushed a tray of desert in her direction before striking up a conversation with the person next to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what should we call the prefect? I know there are cannon names but... I don't care. They don't fit.  
> Ideas?
> 
> XOXO, Drachma


	12. Slytherin, house of the snake.

The delicious feast drew to a close. Harriet felt, for the first time in a long while, full. She also felt slightly sick. That last treacle tart had been one too many, apparently. 

The tinkle of a knife against a water glass drew the students attention. 

Dumbledore stood up and said," Now before we go to bed let us sing our school song. Everyone pick their favorite tune and here we go. "

The hall became a cacophony of what only few with selective hearing could call music.

' _Hogwarts, Hogwarts hoggy warty hogwarts,_  
 _Teach us something please,_  
 _Wether we are old and bald or young with scabby knees,_  
 _Our heads could do with filling of some interesting stuff,_  
 _For now they're bare and full of air,_  
 _Dead flies and bits of fluff,_  
 _So teach us things worth knowing_  
 _bring back what we forgot,_  
 _just do your best we'll do the rest,_  
 _and learn until our brains all rot.'_

The last ones singing were George and Fred who had chosen a long funeral March as their tune. If their tales of their exams were to be believed, it was appropriate.

After the wailing came to a close, Dumbledore sent everyone off to bed. The Slytherin first years followed their prefects through the entrance hall and down a flight of stairs, past a few oil paintings and through a sort of labyrinth. The prefect pointed out points to look for if they ever got lost.

Soon, they came to a dead end. Harriet exchanged a glance with Pansy who was standing next to her. Were they lost?

The prefect smirked and said, "Dragonsbane." 

The bricks shifted without a sound and revealed an entrance into what was one of the fanciest rooms Harriet had ever seen.

The common room itself was painted a pale green colour with black pillars that had snakes crawling up them. Moving snakes of stone. There was posh black furniture all around the room and two fireplaces at either end. 

There were signs showing the location of the girls and boys respective bathrooms and dormitories. The common room had a glass cieling that showed that they were under the lake. Harriet hoped there wouldn't be a leak.

The prefect (Higgs as he introduced himself) told them where they needed to go and where they could find him during the day should they ever have questions. 

"No questions after 8 o'clock in the evening though," he said. "I have other things to do, like study for my owls. Anyway, if you don't have questions, Good night."

Pansy immediately hooked her arm through Harriets.

"Harriet, right?" she said, smiling. "I guess we're roommates as of today. Let's be friends."

"Sure!" Harriet shrugged.

"Great!" Pansy grinned. "Now, come on, I want to see our dorm!"

"Goodnight, guys!" Harriet called to the others in the group

"Goodnight, " was the last thing she heard before Pansy had dragged her into the girls dormitory and was introducing her to the other slytherin girls: Millicent Bulstrode, Amina Cheng and Elizabeth Whitemore.

"So, Potter," Bulstrode said, seemingly casual, "How come you're in Slytherin?"

"Well, erm - " Harriet had no clue what to say. Why was she in Slytherin? Did she need a reason? Didn't the hat sort you by personality?

"Geez, Bulstrode," Whitemore said, "you really are as tactless as a bull in a porcelain shop, aren't you? The hat placed her here so she belongs here."

"We were all expecting her to be in Gryffindor." Bulstrode shrugged. "I thought I'd ask."

"Doesn't mean you can just throw the question at her, three seconds after you've been introduced," Pansy said, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, but why was everyone expecting me to make Gryffindor?" Harriet asked, confused.

"Because you're the hero of the century," Cheng drawled. "Defeated the darkest wizard as a baby and all that. Ring a bell?"

"And that's supposed to determine my house?" Harriet raised an eyebrow.

"No," Pansy said. It's just that - well..." She started to fidget. "Slytherin is usually associated with, um, dark magic." She hung her head. The air in the room became uneasy, like everyone was waiting for something to explode.

"Dark magic?" Harriet was confused again. That was actually a thing? She had only read about magic giving and taking. 

"Well, you know," Whitemore said, "The unforgivable curses, amongst other things."

"Oh. Ok." Harriet didn't know what to say.

"I've always found that ridiculous." Pansy huffed. "We're eleven! It's not like we can even use magic properly yet!"

"Besides, everyone judging us by our parents is stupid!" Whitemore added. "I know a lot of our house has relatives in Azkaban but they can't expect us to be the same, right?"

"Right!" Cheng agreed. "I think we should make a pact. We should all promise, right here and now, to stay as far away from the dark arts and unforgivable curses as possible. We'll help each other keep the promise, of course!"

"But how would we even do that?" Bulstrode asked. "Our parents all have expectations! The world has expectations! Every damn thing is going to push us towards them!"

"Then push back!" Cheng said. "My parents are both in Azkaban! The world sees me as a dark witch! Never mind that I am still a kid! The only useful thing I've learnt so far is how to stick up for myself and prove people wrong. It's my intention to do that. I am not evil and I am going to prove it. You might consider doing the same!"

"Alright." Whitemore said. "I'm in." 

She stepped forward placed a hand on her heart and raised her wand in the air. "I, Elizabeth Whitemore, swear to do my absolute best to not use what is considered dark magic and never to use the unforgivable curses, so mote it be!"

Cheng smiled at her and stepped forward. "I, Amina Cheng, swear to do my best to not use unforgivable curses and dark magic, so mote it be!"

Bulstrode made a face and stepped forward. "I, Millicent Bulstrode, swear to never use dark magic or unforgivable curses on innocent people, like my father before me, so mote it be!"

Pansy and Harriet exchanged glances. Vows like that in a spur-of-the-moment decision? They exchanged nods. Pansy stepped forward first.

"I, Pansy Parkinson," she said, "swear that I will not harm innocent people except in self defense. I will never use the unforgivable curses or dark magic, so mote it be!"

Then it was Harriet's turn. What could she say? She didn't have the same past as these people! She took a deep breath, stepped into the forming circle and placed a hand over her racing heart. She raised her wand like the others.

"I, Harriet Potter, swear to do my best to help those in the circle uphold their vows. I swear to not judge anyone by their relatives and I swear to listen to as many sides of a story as possible before I make my judgement, so mote it be!"

The girls wands lit up momentarily. The girls all exchanged glances.

"I think," Cheng said, "That we are crazy, even though this was my idea. We are crazy."

"So crazy," Whitemore grinned, "that this could work."

"It will work!" Pansy said.

"Yeah," Bulstrode said, "besides, we have someone to help us keep our vows." She smiled at Harriet. "I think we can manage this. It's not like you-know-who is coming back!"

"Thank goodness for that!" Whitemore whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll be seeing more of the girls. Do you think the guys have similar opinions?  
> Who is your favourite so far?
> 
> XOXO, Drachma.


	13. How to screw up potions, for beginners.

Whispers followed Harriet from the moment she left her dormitory the next day. People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at her, or doubled back to pass her in the corridors again, staring. Harriet wished they wouldn't, because she was trying to concentrate on finding her way to classes.

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Harriet was sure the coats of armor could walk. It made her wish for a magical map of some sort!

The ghosts were of no help. The Bloody Baron was busy moping and Peeves the poltergeist pulled pranks on everyone even two minutes away from being late to class. Harriet had luckily managed to work out a deal with him. She made a pun every morning and she and her friends weren't bothered for the rest of the day. It was a good deal.

The caretaker however, was the absolute worst. Argus Filch.

He and his cat were both horrid. What they had done wrong, they had no clue. He hated Harriet and her friends with a seething passion.

To make things worse, Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.

Astronomy was cool. They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. 

Herbology was pretty easy, if you were good at memorizing. They learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. Professor Sprout was a very good teacher. Her favourite student was probably a shy boy, called Neville Longbottom. He seemed very nice when he spoke and readily accepted the invitation to sit next to Harriet after a certain Ron Weasley sent him away rather harshly.

Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates. His favourite topics were possibly the witch burnings and goblin wars.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. He was also one of the nicest teachers and a former duelling champion! Harriet thought he was brilliant. 

Professor McGonagall was again different. Harriet had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. This earning whoops and cheers from the class. The lesson was then begun with much enthusiasm. 

After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. The girl seated in front of Harriet had mad her needle a little pointier. When Harriet asked how she did it, she went a bit red and stammered her way through a very good explanation. She also introduced herself as Hermione.

The class they had all been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather. He also jumped at the slightest noise.

Harriet was relieved to find out that she wasn't miles behind everyone else. All the studying she had done over the summer had really paid off, not to mention there were plenty of other students from muggle families. She even joined a sort of study group of Slytherin students. They were all very adamant about helping each other.

"Us Slytherins have got to watch each others backs, right?" an older student grinned at her when she had asked why.

Harriet didn't like to admit it, but this seemed all too true. There was obviously an inherent level of mistrust the other houses held for Slytherin and many wary, if not disgusted, glances were sent their way.

Harriet made her first enemy during potions class on Friday. They were seated in the dungeon classroom with th Gryffindor students. Harriet next to what she found out was the youngest brother of the Weasley family, Ron. In passing, obviously. 

The potions master, Professor Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harriet's Name. He gave her a glance. She shrunk back into her seat feeling nervous. He scanned her and then turned back to the Register. Then he began teaching.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses.... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

'Motivational,' Harriet thought.

Silence followed this little speech. Snape put them all into pairs with the people next to them and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone. 

Suddenly the cauldron Harriet and Ron were using began to bubble dangerously. Harriet moved back wisely. There was a bang and the cauldron exploded. Screeching was heard as everyone scrambled onto their stools and desks.

"I bet this is your fault!" Weasley hissed at her.

"My fault?!" Harriet asked incredulously. "You're the one that was supposed to add the crushed fangs!" She had even told him to.

"Typical Slytherin," Weasley snarled at her, "Always looking to place the blame on someone else!"

"Are you kidding me?" Harriet raised an eyebrow. Really? Judgement by house?

"I bet you're used to things going your way, Potter." Weasley said. "Perfect Potter, no wonder your in the dark house! I bet you and your new friends love telling others what to do and blaming them when it goes wrong. I bet you fit in really well with the serpent freaks!"

Harriet shoved him. How dare he speak of her friends like that. He didn't know anything about them!

Only when she noticed all the eyes on her, did she realise she had said that out loud.

Weasley who was struggling to maintain his balance, gave a disbelieving snort.

"Oh please!" He sneered, "They're all the same evil, deceitful, horrible people their parents are!"

Harriet saw red. She tackled Weasley off the chair into the blotches position spreading over the ground below and punched him in the face. She was hauled off of him by professor Snape.Weasly was yanked to his feet as well. After a couple cleaning charms on the classroom professor Snape dismissed everyone and dragged them to the hospital wing.

"Potions incident." He told Madam Pomfrey who came rushing over. Then to the students he was holding by their robes, "A week's detention, both of you. Weasley, ten points from Gryffindor. I shall send you both the details."

He let go of them and marched from the hospital wing, his robes billowing behind him. 

Harriet and Weasley glared at each other, darkly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter.   
> I'm sure many of us would take a swing at people for our friends.  
> Anyway, I feel like we need a Fred and George scene soon and a conversation with Snape.  
> XOXO, Drachma


	14. Spill the tea

The day after the potions incident. Harriet and Weasley were allowed out of the hospital wing and back into society. Something Harriet was grateful for because otherwise, she would have most likely committed murder within the next 24 hours.

Weasley was a horribly biased person and Harriet simply couldn't stand him. It was hard to believe he was related to the twins.

Speaking of the twins, Harriet was swept away into an empty corridor by two identical redheads.

"Let me guess," she said, bracing herself, "You're here to revoke the adoption and tell me not to hurt your brother again?"

The twins opinions were something she had not considered while giving Weasley the black eye and cut lip he was sporting. Did they hate her now?

"Actually," George said, "We were wondering what happened."

"It's not everyday someone gets into a fight with Ronniekins," Fred said.

"Only every second day," George shrugged.

"So we're curious. Spill the tea." Fred told her leaning back against the wall, hands in his pockets.

"Well..." Harriet began, her mind whirring. How did she tell these guys that Weasley was an arse without getting on their bad side. He was their brother, as hard as that was to believe. 

"Well?" The twins asked.

Harriets mind was on the verge of short circuiting. Had they spoken with Weasley already? What had he told them? Would they believe her when she told the truth? How close were they? What should she say? What happened if they didn't believe her? She had never seen them angry before. Would they get angry?

Fred and George exchanged glances. Harriet looked as if she was going to hyper ventilate. Maybe talking to her together hadn't been such a good idea. She seemed like she felt trapped.

"Hey," George said gently, noticing how Harriet jumped slightly, "It's okay. We can all sit down and talk this through."

"Yeah," Fred agreed. Then on a whim he said, "We can all put our wands to the side, if that helps."

Her eyes flicked between them. Then, slowly, Harriet nodded. They all sat down in a small circle. Fred and George rolled their wands to the side. After some hesitation, Harriet's followed. 

"Ok," Fred said, carefully keeping his voice down. "Can you tell us what happened?"

When Harriet looked doubtful, George added, "We promise to hear you out and not to get mad." Fred nodded in agreement. 

"He... erm..." Harriet had no idea how to put it, "It's stupid." she said, fiddling with her sleeves.

"You punched him," George said, "It obviously meant something to you."

"That means it's not stupid." Fred stated.

"He said, that... erm...my friends were the same evil, deceitful, horrible people their parents are." Harriet said the last part quickly, her voice going up a few octaves towards the end.

"And, what happened before that?" Fred prodded softly. In the back of his head he was wondering what made Harriet so scared of pissing people off. A quick glance at George told him his twin was thinking the same thing.

"Our potion blew up." Harriet said fidgeting. 

"He tried to blame you, didn't he?" George said.

Fred chuckled at the wide eyed look Harriet gave them. "We know our brother. He hates admitting to his mistakes. In the end he's only going to hurt himself doing that."

"He's got the problem of living up to our older brothers." George scratched the back of his head. "Prefects, Head boys and a quidditch Captain. That can mess someone up."

"He's not a bad person," Fred said, "Not unless someone pushes him there."

"Not you," George said quickly at Harriet's alarmed look. "He's just been different since he got to Hogwarts."

"Anyway," Fred said, throwing the somberness aside, "Thanks for telling us what happened. Let's get something to eat. I'm starving!" He grabbed everyone's wands and handed them back to their owners.

Harriet still looked nervous. 

"Listen," George said, slinging an arm over her shoulders. "We're not mad at you. And we're sorry if we scared you. We're just worried, ok?"

Harriet nodded looking less tense.

"Now," Fred said slinging another arm over her shoulders, "We're going to show you a neat little place near your common room. You'll love it!"

"What is it?" Harriet asked quietly, curiosity and nerves piquing.

"The kitchens!"George grinned, pulling her along.

Half an hour later, Harriet and the twins were sitting in front of a large fireplace, sipping tea and eating more biscuits than Harriet had eaten in her entire life.

The twins were telling her a rather animated story of their latest prank, when an owl swooped in and dropped a piece of parchment onto her head.

"Ow," Harriet muttered, retrieving the thing from the floor.

She enrolled it and read:

_Ms. Potter,_

_Detention will take place every day at 5 pm starting today. My office. Don't be late._

_Professor Severus Snape_

The Professor's handwriting was even more cramped on paper than it was on the blackboard.

"Detention, huh?" George said, peering over her shoulder. 

"Best get going," Fred said, "That's in half an hour and you do not want to be late."

"We never go." George shrugged. "I think you might want to be on his not-as-bad-as-you-could-be side. He is your head of house."

"You mean his good side?" Harriet raised an eyebrow.

"He doesn't have one," the twins said simultaneously.

"Ok," Harriet said, "See you around then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you are all enjoying the story so far.  
> Thank you for reading.   
> Comment or Kudo.  
> I like to hear what ya'll think.  
> Thanks   
> XOXO Drachma


	15. Detention and gossip.

Harriet knocked on the door. What was detention in a wizarding school like? Was she going to write lines? She had heard the caretaker mention something about shackles. The school wasn't that medieval though, right?

"Come in," Professor Snape's voice drifted through the door. 

Harriet took another deep breath and pushed the door open. Snape finished placing some new potions on a shelf which, like may others was lined with glass bottles filled with different coloured liquids. Something was bubbling in the cauldron in the corner. He checked it before turning sharply to face her.

"Potter," he said. "You're on time."

Harriet didn't know whether she should respond. She just nodded.

"Take a seat." He ordered. "We need to talk. As you are probably already aware, your actions in the potions classroom have little excuse and you are in a lot of trouble."

Harriet nodded, shifting in the chair she was sitting on.

"Do you regret it?" He asked, analysing her.

Harriet took a moment to consider before she answered. She could either tell the truth and cash in a likely worse punishment than what was in store or she could lie. What was really the right option?

She studied the professor for a moment. He was impossible to read.

"No." She said, taking her chances with honesty. "I don't regret it. What he said about my friends and roommates was inexcusable. Just because someone's parents screwed up doesn't mean they will. By saying things like that you're actually more likely to push them on that path. I read it in a library book."

Snape narrowed his eyes at her. Harriet tried to stare him down.

Eventually he nodded shortly.

"Very well, Potter," he said, "You are no longer in trouble. You are however still in detention. Do you like to read?"

Harriet nodded, not sure where this was headed. Was this a trick question?

Snape stood up, went to a bookshelf, snatched a book and handed it to her.

"Your detention today will be spent reading pages one to seventeen and taking notes. You may use the parchement, quill and the ink on the desk. Begin."

Harriet opened up the book and got to reading the tiny print of '101 secrets to potions'. It was still larger lettering than Snape's handwriting. 

She had gotten through pages one to seventeen and had taken notes of the important information and anything she found interesting faster than she had expected because, not an hour later, she was dismissed. Snape would send her the times for her other detention appointments after classes on the following days. Harriet was surprised to find herself looking forward to it. She hoped she could continue reading the book. She also thought she may have found one of her favourite teachers. 

She believed she could look past the cold demeanour in favour of good literature taste.

She skipped back to the common room and sat down in a corner pulling out her homework. Pansy and Draco joined her in her work. They were done rather quickly. Pansy and Draco seemed to brimming with some sort of excitement. 

Pansy turned to her, immediately after the last sentences were complete.

"Have you heard the news?" she asked.

"What news?" Harriet asked. 

"Someone broke into Gringotts!" Pansy whispered excitedly. "I still can't believe it!"

"What?" Harriet asked. Had she misheard?

"I have the article here," Draco said importantly and began to read:

_"GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST_

_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown._

_Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken, so we can ease minds worried about their riches. The only vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day._

_"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon."_

He finished with a smirk at the look on Harriet's face.

"Stop feeling important!" Pansy hissed, elbowing him in the ribs. "All you did was read."

"That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while I was there!" Harriet blurted out before she could insert her brain-to-mouth filter.

The other two stared at her.

"Which Vault was broken into?"Pansy asked, turning to Draco.

"It doesn't say. But I bet what they were searching for must have been really valuable because only someone really desperate or stupid would break into Gringotts!" Draco said.

"Probably both." Pansy said. "They keep dragons."

Harriet's attention flew to her in milliseconds. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be longer. Promise!  
> Poor Draco. He now has two people to knock him into a non-spoilt, nearly decent human being.  
> Anyway, thanks for reading.   
> XOXO Drachma.


	16. Neville almost dies.

The week flew by quickly. Between avoiding Weasley (who had only gotten worse after detention with the headmaster), detention with Snape and classes, Harriet had barely any free time.

One thing she had noticed was her improvement in potions. The book from detention had really helped. She was actually disappoint that she didn't have any obligatory reading sessions with the teacher anymore. She was even more disappointed that she hadn't been able to find a copy of '101 secrets to potions' in the library. Over one million books, and that one wasn't there.

Something that came up on Sunday of that week, was the notice that flying lessons would start in two weeks time. Harriet immediately scoured the library for books on flying and, inevitably, dragons. There she met Theodore Nott and Hermione Granger. A Ravenclaw and a Gryffindor who she got along with well enough. They all weren't super keen on making a fool of themselves on a broomstick. 

Theodore, or Theo as he had insisted they call him, was from a pure blood family. Not one fond of flying however. Therefore, he didn't know much about broomsticks or quidditch.

Hermione came from a muggle family and like Harriet, hadn't known about Hogwarts or magic. She liked to read aswell and was a bit of a know-it-all. 

Sadly, neither of them shared Harriet's fascination of magical creatures. 

She also, by coincidence, met Neville Longbottom, a very shy Gryffindor, who had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Harriet felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground. She wasn't the most graceful person but Neville - Neville took clumsy and awkward to a whole new level.

Harriet wondered if helping him with some of his spell casting and potions was too ambitious, but, surprisingly, she managed. She also wondered if his wand wasn't actually, well, his. 

It was three-thirty on a Wednesday afternoon, when the Slytherins and Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived on the dot. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Harriet glanced down at the broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. Was she supposed to fly on this thing?

It should be perfectly safe, she reasoned mentally. It wouldn't be here otherwise.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!"'

"UP," everyone shouted.

Harriets broom jumped into her hand at once, but it was one of the very few (along with Draco's) that did. Blaise Zabini's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Pansy's hadn't moved at all. Hermione was talking to her broom like it was a disobedient dog. Theo was considering his with a slight look of fear and disdain.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Her eyes barely glanced at Harriet's, a small smile almost forming on her lips before disappearing again as she checked the next person.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle - three - two -"

But poor Neville, who was shaking from head to foot, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle - twelve feet - twenty feet. Harriet saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and -

WHAM!

A thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.

Madam Hooch rushed over to him.

"Broken wrist," The class heard her mutter. "Come on, boy -- it's all right, up you get.".

She turned to the rest of the class.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.

Draco picked something up from the grass.

"Look!" he said, showing Harriet and Pansy. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

"That's a rememberall." Pansy said. "He probably needs it."

"We should give that back to him," said Harry.

"Yes. Let's give it to one of the Gryffindors," Pansy agreed. "They'll see it safely returned."

"How about Hermione?" Harriet suggested. She could be trusted.

"Okay. "Pansy said, shrugging.

She turned to the Gryffindors. "Hey Granger, "She called," Give this back to Mr. Almost-Swan-Dive."

She threw her the rememberall. Hermione fumbling to catch it but nodding and slipping the rememberall into her pocket.

At the end of the day everyone fell asleep almost instantly. They had sat through 4 hours of homework and were very tired.


	17. Pansy and Harriet almost get eaten.

A Long time later, Harriet woke up from her sleep and looked around. How did she end up in the trophy room. A thought struck her. Was she sleep walking? Someone grabbed her and pulled her behind a statue.

"What in the Name of Merlin are you doing?"

It was Pansy.

"Sleepwalking. I think. I don't know! I was in the dormitory and then I woke up here!" Harriet said, confused by the situation.

Pansy looked worried.

"Ok, Let's get back to the dormitory and talk about this there." she said starting to pull Harriet towards the door.

They heard the door Creek and hid behind a large statue. It was Filch.

"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."

"This way!" Pansy mouthed to Harriet and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Harriet suddenly tripped, grabbed Pansy for balance and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor.

The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.

"RUN!" Pansy yelled, and they sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following - they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, without any idea where they were or where they were going . They ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway. The girls hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.

"I think we've lost him," Harriet panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping her forehead. Pansy was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.

"Let's go." Pansy said grabbing her wrist and pulling her along.

It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.

It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.

"Shut up, Peeves! You'll get us in trouble!" Pansy ordered.

Peeves cackled. Harriet had the urge to punch a ghost.

"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty." Peeves grinned.

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves." Pansy said, pleading.

"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."

"Get out of the way or we'll call the bloody Baron!" snapped Harriet. She didn't appreciate threats. Not when she was trying to run away from something.

Peeves went a lighter shade than usual and zoomed off.

"This is it!" Pansy moaned, as she pushed helplessly at a door they had run into, "We're done for! This is the end!" They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward the direction from where Peeves had zoomed out of screaming 'students out of bed'.

Harriet thought for a moment scanning the spells she knew. Then she grabbed her wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!"

The lock clicked and the door swung open - they slipped through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please'." Peeves said. They could hear the nasty grin.

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?" Filch snapped.

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.

"All right -please." The caretaker relented.

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.

"He thinks this door is locked," Harriet whispered, relieved. "I think we'll be okay."

"I'm not too sure about that." Pansy said staring at something.

Harriet turned around - and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, she was sure she'd walked into a nightmare - this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far.

They weren't in a room, as she had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden. They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.

Harriet scanned the room quickly. Maybe it was tied up?

It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harriet knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise. It was like Uncle Vernons sister's dog.

It was also getting over the surprise quickly. There was no mistaking what those growls meant.

Harriet groped for the doorknob. Between death and detention, detention was better.

The door was open and they were out. Pansy slammed it shut.

They almost flew back down the corridor.

Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they didn't care. All they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the entrance to the common room.

"Silver snake," panted Harriet, and the wall opened. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs. 

It was a while before any of them said anything. Pansy, indeed, looked as if she'd never speak again. She had her arms wrapped around her and was staring at nothing.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Harriet asked. Then, to lighten the mood, she said, "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

Pansy just shook her head.

Harriet decided it was best to just keep talking. "It was standing on a trapdoor, guarding something." she said, "It looks as though we have found out where the thing the burgular at gringotts wanted is. Vault 713 was emptied by Hagrid when he took me to buy my stuff and in the newspaper it said that the vault had been emptied the very same day it was broken into. I wonder why they're keeping whatever it is here."

She glanced at Pansy. She was still pale.

"Okay," Harriet said, "Different subject. Food, maybe? Do you want me to talk about food until you calm down?"

No response. Pansy looked a bit less white though.

"Food it is." Harriet decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Food! Wonderful subject.  
> Anyways, We'll have a bit of friendship building in the next chapter because friends are important.  
> Thanks for reading.   
> Comment or kudo.  
> Thank you.  
> XOXO Drachma


	18. Chapter 18

Harriet and Pansy were nearly inseparable for the next few days. 

After Pansy had calmed down from the shock of almost being eaten by a three headed dog, she and Harriet had sat in front of the common room fire for a while discussing their fears and sharing childhood stories. Harriet had carefully left out anything to do with the Dursleys. Pansy wouldn't elaborate on her crippling fear of dogs. She'd almost jumped out of her seat when a wolf had howled in the distance. 

The girls were often seen sitting close together and whispering. They stopped immediately when anybody got too close. It caused many knowing smiles from older students and teachers.

If they knew...

Pansy and Harriet exchanged many theories on what valuable object was being hidden at Hogwarts. They had a list of suspected thieves too.

Harriet had been trying to subtly ask Hermione about various magical artifacts. She feigned interest in the subject and as a result, Hermione became more interested in them aswell. They spent hours in the library pouring over books. Hermione remained in the dark as to the real reason behind the research.

Pansy was busy using her social know-how and charisma to ask around who everyone thought the person behind the Gringotts break in was. The list of suspects grew. She left interrogating Hagrid about the dog to Harriet. She wouldn't go near him for some reason. Harriet, who had been looking for an excuse to visit him, didn't complain.

"Hagrid!" Harriet called, waving at the caretaker as she walked up. "How are you?"

"Harriet," He smiled. "Have time for a cuppa tea?"

"Sounds great, thank you." she said stepping into the hut. A large dog in the corner barked and ran up to her, sniffing at her legs.

"Hello!" she greeted, petting it.

"Tha's Fang." Hagrid told her, while putting on the kettle. "He's a bit o' a scaredy cat but he's very friendly."

Harriet took a seat in a very large armchair and looked around. The place was cozy and a bit of a mess. She noticed something that looked like a colourful rock in a cauldron above the fireplace and some green twig-like creatures climbing around.

"Bowtruckles!" she said, deciding not to mention the very obvious rock (that definitely wasn't a rock) over the fire.

"Yeah," Hagrid grinned, "they seem te like me windowsills."

"Are there any other creatures around?" Harriet asked, genuinely interested. She accepted the large cup of tea gratefully.

"Well... erm..." He cast a glance towards the fireplace, confirming Harriet's earlier suspicions. "There's plenty in the forest. An' I suppose a few around the castle. Near the greenhouses."

"And in the third floor corridor. The forbidden one." Harriet said.

"How do yeh know about Fluffy?" Hagrid asked sharply.

"Heard there was something in there." She shrugged. "Didn't know it was true." It was a bold faced lie but telling the truth was probably not the way to go here.   
"Fluffy," she mused, "Must be something really shy."

"Well, a cerberus is pretty shy until yeh get to know 'em." Hagrid said.

"A Cerberus?" Harriet asked, feigning obliviousness. 

"Three headed dog." Hagrid said. "Rather large. Should be careful around them though. The love music."

"But they sound cute!" Harriet commented.

"Abou' as cute as a dragon." Hagrid chuckled.

"Dragons are adorable!" Harriet insisted. "Wish I could keep one as a pet. They're not made for that though. They need their freedom."

Hagrid nodded. Harriet felt as if he hadn't taken the hint. The dragon egg above the fireplace looked a short while away from hatching. Best guess was 5 days. Harriet made a mental note to stop by more often. The dragon needed to be out of the hut for safety reasons and it's own health. Dragons in captivity didn't have too high of a life expectancy. 

She made a mental note to visit more often to work on convincing him to give up the dragon to a reserve of some kind.

Sitting down next to Pansy in the common room some time later, she whispered, "It's possible to get the dog to sleep by playing it some music. Also, I think Hagrid is hatching a dragon in his hut!"

"What!" Pansy gasped rather loudly. "A dragon?"

"Quiet down will you!" Harriet hissed. "You could get him arrested! We need to handle this discreetly!"

"It's a dragon! We need to call the ministry!" Pansy looked like she had just suggested murder.

"No." Harriet said, "We don't. I have a plan - of sorts - and I do think that this can be sorted out without arrests and other not so nice events."

"But -" Pansy tried again.

"Let me handle it." Harriet cut across her.

Pansy frowned at her, then relented nodded and gave up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. I know this is earlier than in the OG book. No. She doesn't have an invisibility cloak.
> 
> Definitely. I'm using this as an excuse to include other characters. 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Drachma XOXO 


	19. Mission: perhaps doable.

Harriet crept along the corridor, focused on her target.

She tiptoed up and...

"BOO!" she cried leaping at the Weasley twins.

"Oh, hey Harriet!" George said, calmly turning over a page in the book he was reading.

"Mother of Merlin!" Fred gasped, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. "Geez! Good one but... Geez!"

"Don't be dramatic, dearest twin of mine." George smiled sweetly. "It's only a taste of your own medicine."

Fred rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, what can we do for you, Harriet?" George grinned.

"I - erm..." Harriet began. Did she really need help for this? Would they help her? She was doing something that broke over 100 school rules and a few laws. Did she really need help though?

"You do need to tell us." Fred said, beginning to look worried. 

Harriet realised she had been standing there and staring for quite some time. But... asking for help? Could she formulate that differently? 

"Want to break a law?" She asked, slapping herself mentally.

"How? Hypothetically." George frowned slightly.

"Literally." Harriet said, without thinking.

The twins eyebrows shot up. Shoot!

"I - I mean, we - we'd be stopping someone - someone from getting arrested." She tried to explain.

"What? How? Who?" The twins gaped.

"Well... there's a dragon egg somewhere, being breeded illegally and I was wondering if you wanted to smuggle it out of the castle with me so, yeah..." Harriet trailed off.

George and Fred looked at each other, back to her and at each other again. They nodded.

"Sure!" they said. George snapped his book shut and budged to the side a bit so she could squeeze onto the bench between them.

"So," George bumped his shoulder against hers, "Any ideas?"

Harriet knew she should have planned this better and made a mental note to do exactly that when another occasion arose, should it ever.

"No," she admitted quietly, bowing her head.

"That's okay." Fred smiled gently. "We can all think of something together."

Two days of intricate and careful planning later, Harriet slipped out of bed and snook out of her common room. She crept up the stairs and into the entrance hall where she was immediately yanked behind a statue, her shriek stifled by the hand over her mouth.

"Sorry!" Fred whispered. 

"Mrs. Norris and Filch are finishing up their patrol." George added as an explanation. 

Harriet nodded in understanding. Be quiet, don't move, give no signal that you're there. She could do that. Years of practice at the Dursleys had made her somewhat of an expert. She almost reprimanded Fred for breathing too loudly when Mrs. Norris turned her yellow eyes in their direction.

Then, finally, the caretaker and his cat left. Fred and George looked to her as if to ask 'ready?'. Harriet finished mentally counting to 100 and nodded.

They slipped out of their hiding spot and fled the castle. They raced across the lawn to Hagrids hut. They'd informed him of the plan on the day prior.

Hastily, they knocked on the door. It swung open.

"We have to move quickly!" Harriet said. 

Hagrid nodded, his face falling. It was clear that he'd been crying.

"Don't worry." George patted him on the shoulder as Fred picked up the basket containing the flaming reptile. "I'm sure he'll be very happy and grow up strong and healthy. Charlie will make sure of it."

"If yeh say so," Hagrid sniffed.

"We know so," Fred said, firmly.

"Goodbye, Norbert." Hagrid told the sleeping dragon in the basket. "I'll miss you."

"We'll keep you updated." George promised. Harriet nodded.

After the last goodbyes were said and the final tears were shed, the trio sprinted back across the lawn and crept back into the castle. They twisted through secret passageways, snook up staircases and crept down hallways with shadows as their only cover. 

The hardest part of the journey was the climb up the astronomy tower staircase.

"Now I know why the upper classes are so fit," Fred panted, "They have to do this more often than we do."

"I'm just happy down is easier than up." George sat down abruptly. 

Harriet leant against the door they had just come through, trying to inhale as much air as possible. "Don't you two play quidditch?" she asked. 

"Different exercise." the twins replied in unison.

Harriet nodded in acceptance of that and looked to the sky. The stars were pretty. She wondered what it would be like to fly amongst them, just soaring across the sky. 

They waited. Then, they waited some more.

Fred sighed.

George frowned at his twin.

Harriet looked at Norbert.

Fred followed her gaze. "Maybe we should tickle him awake?"

"Never tickle a sleeping dragon!" George exclaimed.

"Why not?" Fred asked.

"It's such a bad idea, it's literally our school motto!" Harriet rolled her eyes.

"Okay."

Silence settled over them again. Harriet's gaze drifted back to the heavens. She spent some time connecting the dots of light to form dragons. Hungarian horntail, chinese fireball, welsh green, iron be- wait! There was something flying towards them.

"Guys," she said, pointing.

The looked. "Charlie!" They waved frantically.

A group of wizards came to a skidding halt.

"Fred! George!" A very obvious Weasley leapt off his broom and swept the twins into a crushing hug. "These are my mates. Meet Patrick, John, James, Lizzie, Maggie and Gordon the second."

"What happened to the first?" Fred snorted.

"Nothing anyone can prove." Gordon the second said very seriously.

"Where's the dragon?" Patrick asked.

"In that basket," George said. 

John, James, Maggie and Lizzie went to attach it to their brooms. Harriet stayed out of the way. She didn't know these people. They seemed a bit wierd. 

Then again, so was she. Who else was going to smuggle a dragon out of Hogwarts with the twins?

"ACHOO!" Harriet sneezed. Suddenly all eyes were on her.

"Sorry." she said.

"Oh yeah!" Fred said brightly.

"Charlie," George said, "This is Harriet."

He pulled her over to them. Charlie grinned at her. 

Harriet had no clue what to say. Charlie, obviously, was cool! He had longish hair pulled back and a thousand watt smile. His jacket was tattered and there were patches on his jeans. He stood with a certain confidence that made Harriet feel like an absolute mess.

"Nice to- nice to meet you." She stuttered out, extending her hand.

Charlie grabbed it, "You too. Fred and George have told me a bit about you. You like dragons right."

She could feel herself going a bit red in the face. She nodded.

"Nice." He said.


	20. Reflections hold Secrets

After Harriet had managed to stutter herself through an entire conversation with Charlie and get him to promise a few letters to Hagrid, the twins and Harriet tiptoed back down the stairs.

Harriets face had slowly turned back to its normal colour.

The walk down the hallway was rather silent until...

Professor McGonagall rounded the corner. Fred shoved Harriet behind a statue. George covered the noise by coughing. 

"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley," she snapped, "I am not particularly surprised. What were you doing at this hour?"

"You know, I was wondering the same thing." Fred said.

"Me too, brother dearest." George grinned, "I do believe we were sneaking around."

"Do you realise how many rules the both of you are breaking?"

"I believe we forgot to count." Fred noted dryly.

Harriet was frozen in her hiding spot. What were they doing? 

"Was anyone else with you? Honestly may do you some good in this instance?" Harriet could mentally see her peering at them over her spectacles. 

"No one." George said. Harriet's jaw dropped. They weren't seriously...

"My office." McGonagall snapped. "Now!"

"Right away, Professor!" The twins said and followed McGonagall down the Hallway, motioning for Harriet to run.

She did. She didn't want to admit it, but she did.

Twisting and turning down corridors, fleeing in the direction of her common room.

She was vaguely aware of several portraits giving nasty remarks. Nothing she wasn't used to. Skidding around the corner, she dived into a random room before the two people at the end of the corridor noticed her. She would not waste the Weasleys effort to keep her being caught by McGonagall, only to be caught by Snape and Filch.

Holding her breath, Harriet remained frozen behind the door. It took far to long for the two to leave. Once she was sure they were gone, she breathed a small sigh of relief and looked around the room. Nothing special, just a few chairs and a dusty old mirror. 

Her eyes focused on the mirror. Something was wrong with it. She could feel it. Slowly, she crept towards it. What was it? What was it that made this mirror so magnetic and creepy at the same time?

She walked around it. Nothing.

She took a look at the frame. Nothing except some strange words.

Finally, her eyes focused on her reflection. She took a few steps back in shock. Was that possible?

She took a deep breath and risked another glance.

She saw herself standing amongst a large group of people. Some she recognized, some she didn't. 

Draco and Pansy were there. So were the other Slytherin girls and the Weasley twins.

Three men and a woman she didn't recognize were standing behind her, looking proud.   
She noticed the woman's eyes. They looked eerily like her own. And one man's hair was just as messy as hers. Maybe they were her parents? Harriet liked that idea.

The other two men didn't look like they were related to her. One was tall, with brown hair and a scar across his face. She reached up and rubbed her own scar. Did someone try to kill him too?

The other had long dark hair and was wearing a leather jacket. Harriet noticed some tattoos as well. He seemed like the kind of person Aunt Petunia wouldn't be caught dead associating with. Harriet decided he seemed cool.

She took the time to study each person individually, committing their faces to memory before stepping away. She couldn't stay here too long.

She peeked out of the door. Corridor empty. Quickly she darted out of the room and took off in the direction of her common room again. She thankfully arrived a few hours before breakfast so she could still get some sleep. Flopping down on her bed, she drifted off instantly. She could worry about the mirror tomorrow. 

How lucky she was that the plan had been executed on a Friday night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, school started again recently and I'll be busy so... the updates will be super irregular. Ya'll are probably used to that by now though.


	21. Clue-slapped!

The next morning, Harriet went straight to the library and scanned the seemingly endless rows of books. 

There! 'Magical Artifacts And Their Uses' sitting on a rather high shelf. 

Harriet glared up at it. Why was she so short. She tried to reach through jumping a few times before giving up and looking around for something to step on.

Just then an older student pulled the book from the shelf and held it out to her.

"This is the one you were trying to reach, right?"

Harriet nodded. "Thank you!"

"No problem, anything else you need grabbing?"

"No," Harriet smiled, "Thanks again."

The student nodded and turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Harriet said, "Sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Marietta Edgecombe." She smiled, "You're Harriet Potter, right?"

Harriet nodded, pulling the book close to her chest.

"Do you want to sit with me?" Marietta offered kindly.

Harriet nodded again. "Thanks."

She followed Marietta to a table in the corner.

"These are my friends," Marietta introduced the other students. "Cho Chang, Cedric Diggory, Penelope Clearwater and Jane Korley."

"Hello!" Harriet said waving shyly. 

"Here," Marietta pulled up a chair, smiling kindly, "sit down."

"Thanks."

Harriet sat down and flipped open her book. Occasionally chatting with the others, she scanned the pages. 

There it was! The page she was looking for. The picture of the mirror was partially an artist's interpretation, but overall it looked very much the same.

Now, if only she could copy the page or something.

"Excuse me," she began quietly, gaining everyone at the tables attention.   
"Is there a way I can copy this page? Hogwarts doesn't seem like it has a photocopier." Harriet debated saying more but it didn't seem necessary. 

Marietta smiled. "Here, watch me!" She said, pulling out her wand. "Geminio."

Harriet almost leaped back in shock.

Suddenly, she was holding an exact replica of the page. Creases, tears, faded spots... the entire shebang.

"Can you write that down for me?" She asked in awe.

Marietta grinned and grabbed some parchment. "Be sure to pronounce it correctly or you could end up using the duplication curse, gemino, which causes objects to duplicate uncontrollably." She said, handing it over.

"Thanks!" Harriet glanced at the clock. "Sorry guys, but I have to go. It was really nice to meet you all!"

"No problem!" Marietta said. "You're welcome to join us again at any time!"

Harriet waved, reshelved her book and speed-walked out of the library. Now, where was Pansy?

An hour of searching later, Harriet found Pansy in the common room patting a very disgruntled Draco on the back.

"Uh, hey, bad timing?" she asked.

"Sort of." Pansy grimaced.

"What's up?"

"Weasley."

"What'd he do?"

"Try to start a fight."

"What'd Draco do?"

"Take the high road."

"You dragged me away." Draco threw Pansy an annoyed look.

"It was the right thing to do." Pansy rolled her eyes.

"She's right, you know." Harriet said. "The world already hates us Slytherins enough. We can't give them a reason to despise us any more than they already do. If we did, there'd only be more trouble."

"I know you're right," Draco admitted through his teeth, "I still wish I'd ripped out his tongue and shoved it up his ass though."

"Can't blame you for that!" Pansy stated.

"We'll get revenge some other time," Harriet promised, "Right now, I have something else to show you."

Pansy and Draco accepted the page of info.

"The philosopher's stone?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. "We knew about this already. It's famous!"

"What? No, not that! The other thing, it's here at hogwarts!" Harriet rolled her eyes.

"The mirror of eris - erised?" Pansy said.

"Yeah."

"That's ridiculous! It's only eligible for rent by high society alchemists and other sorcerers and wizards of similar caliber!" Draco said.

"You just read that off the page." Harriet told him. "But yes, it's here. I found it last night."

"Where?" Pansy demanded.

"I'll take you with me when I check it out again." Harriet smirked. "It's really sick."

"Wicked!" Draco grinned.

"We should take the others!" Pansy said. "They deserve it."

With the others, Pansy meant the slytherin girls who had taken magical vows with her and Harriet on their first night here. Harriet nodded in agreement. This was something they should share.

"Won't that be too many?" Draco asked.

"You don't have to come if you're worried." Pansy elbowed him.

"Of course I'm going!"

"That's settled then." Harriet took the page back. "See you in the common room at eleven sharp."

She walked into the dormitory. Pansy would tell the others. She needed some time to think. Specifically, about the philosopher's stone. She pulled ot the page and read it, carefully. Could this make sense?

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The clock was the only noise in the dormitory besides Harriet's quiet breathing. 

She was laying on her back staring at the page. Slowly, her mind began piecing things together. 

The visit to Gringotts. Business in the name of Dumbledore. The forbidden corridor. Fluffy. The trapdoor. 

Tick. Tock. 

The puzzle pieces fell into place.

Harriet sat up and went for the door. She should tell Pansy, shouldn't she?

Shouldn't she?

She hesitated, hand halfway to the handle. Pansy would want to do something about it. Besides, she might insist on telling the others. She didn't know how far she could trust them yet. Sure, the vow was there but...

Harriet shook her head and placed the page in her trunk. No. It was best to keep this to herself. After all, secrets were best kept if barely anyone knew about them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah. School is killing me. I'll try to update more but I can't promise anything. 
> 
> Thanks to all of you for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!
> 
> XOXO  
> Drachma


	22. Hearts desires in your face!

Millicent Bulstrode, Amina Cheng, Elizabeth Whitemore, Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were all staring at the elephant in the room.

Even if there was a literal elephant in the room, the mirror would still be the elephant in the room.

"Wow. Of all the things I was expecting, this was none of them." Amina gaped.

"No kidding." Pansy walked around the mirror, taking it in.

"I told you it was there," Harriet frowned.

Draco sighed. "It was a bit difficult to believe but after this, I am never doubting you again."

"The earth is flat." Harriet deadpanned.

"Sure, why not?" Draco stuck his tongue out at Harriet's eyeroll.

"So this shows me what I want?" Millicent Bulstrode asked stepping in front of the glass.

"It shows you what you really really want." Elizabeth Whitemore told her.

"Your hearts desire!" Draco exclaimed dramatically, flailing his arms about.

Millicent looked into the mirror. She cocked her head to one side and then the other.

"Is it safe?" She asked.

"Yup." Pansy said after checking the information.

Millicent stepped closer to the mirror and gasped.

"What do you see?" Harriet asked.

"She doesn't have to share that!" Pansy told her.

"It's alright. I see myself. I'm standing on a beach near my home. My parents are there." She smiled sadly. "They don't have those ugly snake tattoos either. We're happy."

Amina placed a hand on her shoulder. "I see something similar. My brother and my parents. Mum is still alive, Dad isn't in Azkaban and Noah is -" She swallowed thickly -"He's okay."

Harriet began to fidget. Living with the Dursleys wasn't a walk in the park but... they had it worse. She couldn't even begin to imagine how it would be if her parents had been imprisoned for crimes she couldn't comprehend. For unspeakable horrors.

"My turn!" Elizabeth said, stepping up. She gazed at what she saw without any emotion showing on her face. Her eyes told a different story. The unshed tears of many years threatening to fall. She took a deep breath and stepped away.

Pansy took a step forward. She looked nervous. Eyeing the mirror she shuffled closer and turned away.

"I'm not doing this," she decided.

"Why not?" Amina asked. "Don't you want to know what your hearts desire is?"

"Not really." Pansy shook her head. "For all I know, it might be something impossible and then I'll just be disappointed all my life if I don't achieve it. I'm not putting that kind of pressure on myself. At least, I don't want to."

"Understandable." Harriet smiled. She was beginning to regret ever looking in the mirror and felt bad about showing it to the others. What if they couldn't stop thinking about what they saw? Would it drive them crazy? If they went mad that would be her fault!

"Well," Draco shrugged, "I'm taking a look anyway."

His smirk in place, he walked up to the glass and took a look. His face fell.  
Quickly, he composed himself and turned away.

"Not what I thought it would be." He looked around at everyone else. "Shouldn't we be heading back?"

Pansy glanced at her watch.  
"Blimey, you're right! Morning patrol should be starting soon!"

"You know the patrol schedule?"

"I thought it might come in handy!"

"Let's just go!" Millicent grabbed them both and began sneaking back to the common room, the rest in tow.

It was a journey of hushed whispers and using statues as cover under the judgemental eyes of many portraits. Only Draco remained silent the whole time. Harriet sent him a concerned glance to which he waved his hand dismissively.

Once back in the common room, she turned to him and asked, "What did you see?"

She noticed the others sneak off. Weren't they curious as well?

Draco sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Because you were so unaffected by whatever it is."

"It's none of your business."

"That is... true. But I want to help!"

"Why?"

"Because we're..." friends? Were they friends? Could she say that? Harriet mulled it over for a second."I'd like to be your friend. Friends tell each other things, right?"

"Yeah..." Draco looked around awkwardly, then back at her. "You really want to be my friend?"

"Sure!" Harriet grinned.

"Well, in that case..." He stuck out his hand. "Happy to be your friend, Harriet!"

"Happy to be your friend too, Draco!"

They shook on it.

"So... about the mirror," began Draco.

"You don't have to talk about it!" As curious as Harriet was, she regretted pushing. You weren't supposed to push your friends for information. Not as far as she knew anyway. She hadn't really had friends before Hogwarts.

"No, it's fine. I just think it's stupid." Draco scuffed one of his shoes on the carpet.

"What you saw?"

"Yeah. My father was telling me he was proud of me."

"That's more normal than I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"I saw a bunch of my dead relatives so..." Harriet shrugged. "Wanting to make your dad proud isn't that strange."

"He just never says anything and I always feel like I'm not good enough for him." Draco sniffed.

Uh-oh! Emotions. Harriet was not prepared for those.

"Don't be silly. Your great!" Harriet smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Even if the pawning something you read two seconds ago off as your own idea is kinda annoying."

He sniffed again.

"Crap! Sorry! I didn't want to hurt your feelings!" Harriet mentally kicked herself.

"It's alright. That is something annoying. I'm just worried people won't like my ideas." Draco grinned sheepishly.

"I'd like any stupid ideas a lot more than anything that someone came up with a thousand and two years ago." Harriet scratched the back of her neck. "It is kinda scary letting people know what you're thinking though."

"I know, right? Anyway, I should probably go to bed. See you in the morning!" He turned to leave.

"Good night!" Harriet waved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Feeling?  
> Favourite character so far?  
> Lemme know!  
> Thanks for reading, hope you continue to enjoy and appreciate your feedback!
> 
> Thanks, XOXO Drachma


	23. Halloween trolling!

Harriet started awake.

"Get up! Get up!" Pansy was shrieking in her ear. "It's all hallows eve!"  
"That doesn't mean I have to start it with a headache," Millicent grumbled.

"I think it's nice that she's so excited." Amina smiled. She was sitting cross legged on her bed and reading.

Harriet shoved on her glasses. Ugh, they really needed to be cleaned. "We still have classes today, so how about we get to those first and then celebrate?"

"You're such a spoil sport!" Pansy pouted. "But okay. You have a point."

A groan sounded from the other side of the room.

"What's with Elizabeth?" she asked.

"Don't feel so good," came the reply, muffled by pillows and blankets.

"We'll let the teachers know." Harriet said.

"Thanks."

After a delicious breakfast and two other classes, came Charms. It was more difficult than it sounded. Especially for those of a more logical thinking pattern.

Pansy, who happened to be amazing at charms and feelings, usually didn't have much trouble. Neither did Granger, surprisingly. Hermione Granger, like Harriet, had a more logical thinking pattern, but she did have an annoying way of managing to channel one specific emotion befitting the spells.

The two girls were sitting at a table, happily chatting away. They'd really warmed up to each other after the Neville incident. Harriet was seated at a table with Ravenclaw student Theodore Nott. They had an understanding and were both friends of Draco's.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too -- never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

It was very difficult. Harriet and Theo swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Theo tried one last time before they gave up. 

"Think endless frustration counts as an emotion?" Harriet joked.

"Well, it's technically several emotions at once so, maybe too emotional?" Theo suggested waving his wand.

"Fascinating." Harriet said robotically.

They chuckled and resumed glaring at their feathers. Behind them, Hermione's feather rose elegantly off the desk. Pansy congratulated her enthusiastically. 

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger has done it!"

On the way back to the common room, Harriet grumpily walked past Ron and his friends.

"Parkinson's a nightmare, honestly. I don't see how anyone can stand her. I feel sorry for her house!" was what she heard. Her blood boiled. She made a mental note to get him back someday. It was only lucky Pansy wasn't here.

Someone knocked into Harriet as they hurried past her. It was Pansy. 

Harriet caught a glimpse of her face .

She was in tears. 

Harriet stormed past Weasley shoving him to the ground and hopefully leaving some bruises.

Pansy didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harriet overheard Millicent telling Amina that Pansy was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone.

The great hall was decorated beautifully with hundreds of bats flying above and silver spun cobwebs under the full moon, shown by the great hall's ceiling enchantment. Harriet spent a moment admiring everything. In the distance she thought she could hear a wolf howl.

Harriet was just helping herself to a baked potato when the door flew open with a bang. Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll! Troll - in the dungeons - thought you ought to know."

He fainted.

There was an uproar. People were screaming. A Gryffindor leapt into a Ravenclaws arms. The Ravenclaw dropped them and ran around in circles. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

The prefects sprang into Action.

"Follow us! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow our orders! Stay close behind us, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!" Higgs snapped, shoving through the crowd.

"How could a troll get in?" Harriet asked Draco as they followed Higgs.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Draco. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harriet suddenly grabbed Draco's arm.

"I've just thought - Pansy."

"What about her?"

"She doesn't know about the troll."

"Harriet..." He looked unsure.

"We should tell her!"

"Harriet, there is a troll in the castle!"

"But-"

"Harriet, no! It's too dangerous!"

"Harriet, yes!"

Ducking down, Harriet joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way before Draco could react.

She slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. She had just turned the corner when she heard quick footsteps behind them. She threw herself behind a statue. It was Snape. What was he doing here.

"What are you doing here?" A voice hissed behind her.

She looked back to find Hermione Granger.

"Warning a friend, Granger. You? Thought rules and regulations were your middle names?"

Hermione flushed. "The same. It's just not right not to!"

A rotten stench filled Harriet's nostrils. She wrinkled her nose.

"Say, do you smell that?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of you for reading this! You are amazing!   
> Special thanks to the ones leaving comments and kudos! It makes me really happy to receive them.
> 
> XOXO, Drachma


	24. Mission: troll takedown, amateur edition

Harriet and Hermione peered around the statue.

It was a horrible sight. A humongous creature with a tiny head, sickly gray skin and long thich limbs. The worst part was it's watery yellow eyes and the huge wooden club it was dragging behind it. Harriet and Hermione reached to hold each others hands. Of all the things, they were not prepared for this.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Hermione managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.

"Nice!" Harriet cheered.

"Let's go get a teacher." Hermione said.

"Good idea!"

Victorious, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop and their blood turn to ice.

A high, petrified scream. It was coming from the chamber they'd just locked.

"Oh hell!" Harriet cursed, realizing what was up.

"It's the girls' bathroom!" Hermione gasped.

Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and fumbling in their panic, tried to turn the key.

"Hurry up!" Hermione hissed at her, panicking.

"Fine!" Harriet snapped. She whipped out her wand. "Bombarda!"

The door flew off its hinges and they ran inside. It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have?

Pansy was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

"Confuse it!" Harriet said desperately to Hermione, and, seizing a tap, she threw it as hard as she could against the wall.

The troll stopped a few feet from Pansy. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. It saw Harriet. It hesitated, then made for her instead, lifting its club as it went.

"Aw, come on!" Harriet groaned and ran sideways away from the troll.

"Hey, stupid!" Hermione called from the other side of the bathroom. She threw a piece of pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its sights on Hermione instead

"Come on, run, run! Goddammit, move you idiot!" Harriet shouted, yanking at Pansy, trying to pull her toward the door. Unsuccessfully. Pansy was frozen.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Pansy, and now Harriet aswell, who were nearest and had no way to escape.

"Crap!" Harriet yelled and pulled out her wand preparing to cast the blasting charm again. It was a neat little spell she had learned from Marietta. She had been taught with Seamus Finnegan. An irish Gryffindor with a talent for blowing things up.

Hermione pulled her wand out too. "Petrificus totals!" She cried, while Harriet screamed, "Bombarda!" The two spells hit the troll. It went crashing into the nearby sinks.

"We did it!" Hermione cheered.

"We're alive!" Harriet whooped.

"Thank Merlin that's over." Pansy whispered, sinking to the floor.

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. 

A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

"No offence, Sirs," Harriet said, "but this is a girls bathroom."

McGonagall gave her a sharp look.

"Sorry."

Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Hermione and Harriet. Harriet had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of getting away with it dissapeared. She almost wished the troll had killed her.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harriet looked at Draco who looked just as desperate for a way out as she was. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Snape gave Harriet a swift, piercing look. Harriet looked at the floor. She shoved her wand back into her pocket.

Then a small voice came out of the shadows.

"Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me."

"Miss Parkinson!"

Pansy had managed to get to her feet at last.

"I didn't know about the troll. I was crying because of something someone said. They came to warn me. The couldn'theve gotten anyone because the troll was already here. If it wasn't for them I - I probably wouldn't - wouldn't be here."

Professor McGonagall stared them down.

Pansy hung her head. Harriet inspected her shoelaces. Hermione seemed fascinated with the ruined sinks.

"Well, I still say you were lucky," McGonagall said at last, "but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win your houses five points for sheer dumb luck. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they were back in their common rooms. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

"Where did you learn that spell?" Pansy asked Harriet. 

"A friend."

"Nice, how was the food at the feast?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to the food subject...  
> Anyway, in case anyone was wondering about the irregular updates, I have so many exams coming up.
> 
> Anyone else go to a womens march last Sunday?
> 
> Thanks for reading.  
> XOXO Drachma.


	25. Little whispers in the Corridor

November arrived and brought the cold rainy weather with it. Pansy was disappointed that she could no longer chatter with everyone out in the courtyard anymore. She used the great hall instead.

The Quidditch season had begun.

The first match was on Saturday: Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

If Slytherin won, they would move up into second place in the house Championship.

Harriet, by pure coincidence, learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473. Courtesy of Blaise who wouldn't stop talking about quidditch and had Harriet looking Forward to the day she learnt silencing charms. Seriously, couldn't he just let her read her books and do her studying?

Harriet and Theo had conjured up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar as a way to combat the cold outside. They were standing with them out in the courtyard, getting some fresh air and chatting about potion preperations, when Snape crossed the yard.

Harriet noticed that Snape was limping. He had tried to get past the dog. She filed away the information and turned back to her conversation with Theo. They were becoming pretty good friends.

The Slytherin common room was very noisy that evening. Pansy, Blaise, Draco and Harriet sat together next to a window. Crabbe and Goyle soon joined them.

Blaise was rambling on about Pride of Portree and their best player, Andre Egwu. Draco was playing chess with Pansy. Crabbe and Goyle were binging on snacks. Harriet was studying ahead. She wanted straight A's.

The Great Hall the next morning was full of the delicious smell of a full english with side dishes and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match. Blaise was wrapping Slytherin scarves around everyone and giving out fans.

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.

Blaise had managed to get everyone top row seats.

Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand and whistle at the ready. Harriet thought she looked a bit intimidating.

"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her. She blew the whistle.

Then they were off.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor - what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too -"

"JORDAN!"

Lee Jordan was the sports commentator. He was a friend of the twins and had met Harriet on several occasions. He seemed rather nice and loved a good joke.

"Sorry, Professor."

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve - back to Johnson and the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes - Flint flying like an eagle up there - he's going to sc- no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle -"

A collective groan ran through the Slytherins. Blaise shouted his disagreement pertaining the events. 

"- that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and - OUCH! That must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger - Quaffle taken by the Slytherins - that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger - sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which -"

"It was George." Harriet commented to the others. She was met with shocked looks.

"You can tell them apart!" Blaise practically shrieked.

"What? Like it's hard!" She turned back to the game and Lee's commentation.

"Nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes - she's really flying! Dodges a speeding Bludger - the goal posts are ahead - come on, now, Angelina - Keeper Bletchley dives - misses - GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

Gryffindor cheers filled the stadium. Harriet clapped politely along with Draco and Pansy. Crabbe and Goyle restrained Blaise who was yelling wildly.

"NO BLOODY WAY! MERLIN'S PANTS! THIS IS RIGGED I TELL YOU. RIGGED! I CAN'T BELIEVE -" He continued with increasingly colourful language until Pansy shoved a scarf into his mouth.

"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the - wait a moment - was that the Snitch?"

"Yes." Harriet muttered calmly. "It was."

A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.

Slytherin Seeker and their prefects younger brother Terence Higgs had seen it. All the Chasers stopped in mid air to watch. Higgs jr. and the other seeker hurtled downwards neck to neck. Higgs pulled out of the dive just in time whilst the other seeker crashed into the ground. The Gryffindors groaned. Harriet saw Fred facepalm. Flint scored a few times. Higgs jr. grabbed the Snitch and the game ended. The Gryffindors howled in displeasure. The Slytherins were cheering as loudly as possible. 

"Bloody brilliant. I'm telling you, guys. Brilliant. " Blaise was bellowing.

A few hours later, Draco was walking down the corridor past the staff room. 

"That blasted dog. I don't understand why Dumbledore insists on keeping that mutt in the school. There are much more intelligent ways of protecting you-know -what." 

Wait! What? Didn't Harriet and Pansy mention a dog?

Draco's interest spiked. He snook towards the staffroom door, made sure no one was looking and pressed his ear to it. He could make out his godfather's voice and that of filch.

"I highly doubt that Nicholas Flamel even knows what he cooked up. Dumbledore though. That's a different matter."

"I am aware. I have a job for you filch..."

Draco had stopped listening and had run off to find Harriet and Pansy. They were with their usual group.

A few minutes later they were all hiding in a broom closet. Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle had gotten dragged along.

"You eves dropped on a teacher!?" Pansy squeaked. 

"He's my Godfather." Draco shrugged.

"That doesn't make it much better, you know!"

"Yes, anyway, the dog you two told me about is guarding something made by Nicholas Flamel. If we find out who he is we can narrow down the list of possible objects, artifacts, potions and so on."Draco said.

"No need. They're hiding the philosophers stone." Harriet stated dryly. She had better things to do. "Flamel created it for immortality. No idea how he links to Hogwarts though."

"Oh, he's a friend of Dumbledore's. It's on the chocolate frog card." Said Blaise. Then,"what? " when he realized everybody was looking at him.

"Anything else? " Harriet asked. 

"No, that's pretty much it."

There was a collective groan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another chapter finished. How are you liking the story so far?
> 
> Thanks for reading. Have a lovely day.  
> XOXO, Drachma.


	26. Unexpected Messages

Christmas was coming to quickly for Harriet's liking. Everyone seemed to be going home to their families. That or making horrendous attempts at spreading joy and happiness throughout Hogwarts. Absolutely ridiculous. People were just running up and down corridors hugging everyone.

Due to this she spent even more time in the library than usual. The actual reason was to hide from Ronald Weasley so she wouldn't have to deal with his face and words. If he spoke to her one more time, she would hex his arse!

She was lying on her bed in the dormitory, staring at the ceiling, when Hedwig swooped in and dumped a letter on her face. She grumbled and sat up letting it fall into her lap.

Wait! Wasn't that Dudley's handwriting?

The messy scrawl of first grade like letters was pretty memorable. All through primary school his handwriting had always been the worst. He'd gotten a lot of points taken off because of their teachers inability to decipher his penmanship, if one could call it that. The paper was crinkled and a bit torn in places as well. Harriet unfolded it with pursed lips and a disapproving yet curious frown. What was the reason this paper had been violated so?

There was another, much neater letter with flowery script that obviously belonged to her aunt.

Why were they writing to her? She adjusted her glasses and decided to read Petunia's letter first.

It read:

_Harriet,_

_When you return from school this summer, there may be a few changes. Mine and Vernon's relationship has taken a turn for the worse. Henceforth, you may only be living with me and Dudley._

_Petunia_

Short and straight to the point, the letter still left a lot of questions. What had happened? Why were Vernon and Petunia splitting? They were the horrendous version of a dream couple. She turned to the mess that was Dudley's letter.

**Hello Harriet,**

**I don't know what to write but mum says I should write you a letter.**

**Dad and Mum are fighting and Dad is drinking something that smells like pipe cleaner and makes him mean. It makes him really clumsy too. He threw something at me. Mum says I shouldn't tell you that but I don't know why so I'm writing it anyway. It was something about school and focus and so on. How long do letters need to be anyway?**

**Smeltings isn't that great. Everyone is mean and they call me names all the time because I weigh more than them and get bad grades. I'm sorry I was mean to you. It's not nice. I'll try not to do it again.**

**Mum says you won't write back. She says you probably like being at school more than you like living with us. We must be horrible. I don't know how to send you things in the mail so I don't know if I can send you your Christmas present. Mum says you never got any. She also says you have a different post.**

**See you in summer I guess.**

**Dudley.**

Harriet stared at the page. What was happening? What alternate universe had she landed in? Was this a trick? What was going on?

She looked around the dorm. The underwater light patterns on the ceiling didn't seem to have an answer either. Most of the girls had stayed at Hogwarts aswell. Amina and Elizabeth didn't have parents they could go back to and Millicent's mum and older brother had gone to France. Pansy was the only one in their dorm room who had a place to go back too.

Harriet reread the letters. Merlin's beard! This was a bit much to spring on someone you had ignored or been horrendous to for their entire life. Aside from the atrocious spelling mistakes in Dudley's letter and the slightly sharp curve to Petunia's handwriting. It seemed a legit statement.

"Merlin's socks," she huffed and flopped back down onto the mattress. What should she do? She had two and a half weeks to figure it out and then she needed to focus back on class. Well, the philosopher's stone situation too she supposed.

Harriet curled up like it would shut out the outside world. What was the right thing to do here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was anyone a bit pissed at the lack of character developemment for various people in the og Harry Potter series or was it just me? Anyways, I'm determined to give certain people a bit of a spotlight.  
> Who was your favourite supporting character in the Series?  
> Thank you again to all my lovely readers. Have a great day and have a cookie.  
> XOXO, Drachma


	27. Decisions? Ew.

Harriet spent the next days thinking and reading and then thinking some more.

What the hell was she supposed to do? The message from her relatives had left quite a shock and the situation with the philosopher's stone was an issue.

Also, she was figuring some last minute gifts for some friends but that was another situation entirely. What in Merlin's Name was she supposed to do?

She mulled it over. Writing back was the polite thing to do, obviously. But was it the smartest thing to do? She fiddled with her sleeves. Gosh, she needed to clean her glasses. She yanked them off and rubbed them with her sleeve. That hadn't been one of her brighter ideas. Now they were all smudged. How was she supposed to think with smudged glasses?

Briefly, she considered asking her friends for help. That was off the table for several reasons. She couldn't bother them before Christmas, they had their families to think about that. They probably wouldn't know what to do either. Or they would ask their parents or others for advice and then everyone would know.

She pulled a blank piece of parchment towards her. Quill in hand she stared at it as if the letters would write themselves.

_Dear Petunia_ , she began. She crossed that out.

_Hello Petunia_ , was the next attempt. That was scribbled out as well.

_Petunia_ , she settled on.

_Your letter came as a shock. Given our history, I assume you understand. What happened to your marriage with Vernon? What's the current situation? Are you still living together?_

_Harriet_

Now the letter to Dudley. She had even less of an idea of what to write. Maybe she just shouldn't reply? No, no, he should get a reply. It was the nice thing to do. What he had written about Smelting's wasn't something he had the brains to come up with. That much was obvious. If Petunia, who wasn't quite as dull, had checked the letter there wouldn't be that many spelling mistakes. That meant it probably was the truth.

_Dudley,_

_Now you know how it feels._

Shoot, she couldn't start with that. Even if a small part of her thought he deserved it. Hastily, she scribbled over it.

_Hello Dudley,_ she began again.

_I'm not entirely sure what to say. Thanks for the apology, I guess. It's nice to hear one._

_I thought you'd fit in at Smelting's before you went. You seemed like the type of person to be in the 'cool kids' gang there. Sorry if that sounds mean. I'm not entirely sure how to put this. Hang in there I suppose._

_Honestly, I can't say I'm surprised at your Dad's behaviour. Sounds like typical Vernon to me._

_My school is pretty awesome and I made some really cool friends. Of course we're all freaks in our own way, but that's okay here._

_Letters can be as long or short as you want them to be. When you run out of things you want to tell the person, you end the letter._

_Just like this._

_Bye, Harriet._

She tore off the botched parts of both letters and folded them. Hedwig flew over as she shoved them into an envelope and added the address. She watched the snowy owl fly off and wondered if she had made the right choice.

Whatever, there was no going back now. Just planning for various potential outcomes. Maybe she should get her friends Christmas presents first. Ball point pens maybe? They didn't seem to have those in the wizard world. They didn't even have fountain pens! She could gift Crabbe and Goyle ball point pens. They were really messy writers. She probably should gift Crabbe and Goyle ball point pens. It was an act of community service really.

Blaise would be happy to get anything Quidditch related. A scarf would do. Draco was receiving a planner that she had cast a couple of spells on so it would remind him of his various classes and appointments. Maybe he wouldn't be so late.

Amina and Elizabeth had loved the idea of files and ring binders. She'd just get them those and hole punches. Millicent an Pansy needed more thought. Especially Pansy. What were you going to get someone who had seemingly everything and was one of your best friends? Hereby ignoring that you hadn't really had friends before.

Millicent liked fighting people. She also liked her friends and hairstyling. The first one Harriet could work with. The other two, not so much. Maybe she could get Millicent a voucher for boxing classes during the summer holidays? She'd do it. She had no other ideas.

Now what in the name of Merlin's sodding name was she going to get Pansy? She really shouldn't have left this as a last minute thing. She wouldn't do that next year. She needed ideas.

Oh no! She still had the Weasley twins to consider. And Hagrid and Hermione.

Hermione would love a planner as well, she decided. Her bushy haired friend loved anything paper and stationary related. She could get her a writing pad as well.

She'd get Hagrid something for his garden and a chew toy for Fang.

The twins and Pansy were still without gifts. Decisions, decisions. What to do?

She spun and punched the nearest wall. 

"OW!" Harriet cursed violently.

"What happened here?" someone asked.

Harriet spun around. Great. Not someone she knew well enough to care about their opinion. Still...

"I was attacking the wall." She answered.

"Why were you attacking the Wall?" The Person looked genuinely confused.

"It was being annoying."

"Okay..."

"What are you doing here? Who are you anyway?" Could this girl leave? Please!

"The name's Jiyu Burokami. I was walking by and saw you punch a wall so, I figured that I'd check up on you and see how close you are to a mental breakdown." She grinned and leaned against the wall. "Besides, I've been wanting to meet you since Fred and George told me they'd adopted a firstie."

Harriet blinked at her. "What?"

"Yeah, we're buddies."

"What?"

Burokami sighed. "I'm friends with the twins. I'm checking on you because any friend of theirs is a friend of mine and because it's the nice thing to do. Also, no one should be this stressed before Christmas."

"Isn't everyone this stressed before Christmas?" Harriet raised an eyebrow.

"Beside the point." She rolled her eyes. "Last minute shopping failing or something?"

Harriet considered her answer for a moment before nodding. She had no ideas.

"Who're you stuck on?"

"The twins and my friend Pansy."

"Parkinson?" Burokami's eyebrows went up.

"You know her?"

"Just the rumors about her family."

"Well she's brilliant and anything bad you heard is fake," Harriet glared.

"Whatever, let's brainstorm some gift ideas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is doing well with everything that's going on in the world right now.  
> Thank you to all my readers as usual. A special shoutout to my readers that are participating in the Black Lives Matter movement as well.   
> XOXO, Drachma

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts, feelings, comments, kudos, anything?
> 
> XOXO  
> Drachma


End file.
